Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

What's the best anchor leg takeover you ever saw? Mmy vote goes to Ashford over Goehr in Seoul. She made that girl appear as if she were standing still (the vernacular used to be "she put the hook in her back"). It is said Hayes ran a blinding anchor in Tokyo, but I did not see that live. King Carl ran some tremendous final legs, what a stride he had.

Am I the only one that would have used Michael Johnson in the 4 X 100 in world events? I think he frowned on it as an injury threat and time-consumer from 200,400 practice.

Carl Lewis was such a finisher in the 100, that when he applied his final kick in '88 and Ben Johnson still overtook him (Ben being to me, a 60 meter specialist, and too short to withstand Carl's "kick"),I sensed something wrong immediately. I turned to those watching it with me and said "When Carl Lewis changes gears, that never happens. Something funny is going on (I could tell Lewis could see Johnson peripherally the last 10 meters too, and HE looked surprised). But those viewing it w/ me didn't follow the sport closely. Any recollections?

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

Hayes '64 must rank first, of course. In 4x4s, best come-from-behind winner might be Kriss Akabusi at Tokyo '91 (first GB win over US in 55 years)? any others?

[Powell]

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

I don't think Ashford's anchor was anything exceptional - Goehr was just in poor form (she didn't make the individual final in Seoul, while Ashford won silver - it was to be expected the American would be much faster in the relay). Akabusi's run wasn't that great, either - it's just that Pettigrew ran VERY poorly - their splits were 44.59 and 44.93, respectively.

I'm not old enough to remember Hayes, but from what I've read about the race, it must have been a great one... Another one I read about from that era was Ewa Klobukowska's anchor in the Budapest European champs in 1966 - reportedly making up 10 meters ! (but I've never actually seen the race, so I can't vouchsafe for that).

Of the ones I have seen, Christine Arron's anchor leg in the 1998 Europeans and the 2003 World's rank pretty high.

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

The Hayes race was incredible, He was 5 down when he received the stick and 5 up when he crossed the finish line!
Does nayone remember the 1980 NCAA 4 X400 final? The University of Tennesee was in 7th place going into the anchor leg and Antone Blair got the baton and literally zig-zagged his way to first place right at the line.

[The King]

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

Hayes' was 'only' 3m down, and turned that deficit into a 3m lead...

But now matter how far Hayes' won by and how much he had to make up, that is the greatest 100m anchor ever...

How 'bout Christine Arron's 9.66s anchor in the Women's 4x100m final at the 1998 European Championships in Budapest???

She came from 5m down, to around 1-2m up on Irina Privalova!

[gh]

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

>>Does nayone remember the 1980
>NCAA 4 X400 final? The University of Tennesee was
>in 7th place going into the anchor leg and Antone
>Blair got the baton and literally zig-zagged his
>way to first place right at the line.>>

go to this thread

http://trackandfieldnews.com/tfn/discus ... essage=658

you'll find a detailed description of that exciting moment.

[tandfman]

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

If you go back to the original question--what was the best anchor you ever saw--I have to eliminate Hayes, which was probably the most thrilling ever, and then I have a zillion to choose from, but one that I can't get out of my mind was the Nehemiah anchor in the 4x200 at the Penn Relays when he was still in college. No, it wasn't the OG or WC (I've seen a bunch of those, too), but more than two decades later, I still remember that more vividly than I do some of the others that have been mentioned. (Yes, I saw that Tennessee anchor as well.)

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

I don't know the excact details, but in 1989, while at a H.S. track meet, some guy was telling me about Michael Johnson and how he ran down someone (possibly Fredericks) in the 4X200 in a college meet with a 19.3 split. Does anyone have details about that race?

[The King]

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

I don't know what meet exactly which you are talking about(I'll do some research on it),
but in College for his team, MJ did run an 18.5s ahnd-timed anchor leg for a 4x200m relay.

I'll have to check my ATFS 2002 Book for refferences.

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

You might not think HS counts, but the 1990 Ohio HS 4x400 final is the best I've seen.

Shaker Heights had a quality 4x400 that was capable of running 3:15 (which is real darn fast when you get this far north). Dayton Dunbar had three guys and Chris Nelloms. Dunbar handed off in dead last, 50m back on Shaker Heights. Nelloms made up 49 of those 50 meters, and the Columbus Dispatch said his split was 44.8. Ohio Stadium got louder than it does for some football games. Shaker's anchor leg had to be sweating bullets!

If you're a Brit (or just sick and tired of Americans winning relays all the time) the 1991 WC 4x400 was pretty good, too.

[6 5.5hjsteve]

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

Glad to see the "Mile Relay" get into all this.

To me, what's exciting is when, in a Mile Relay, DISASTER STRIKES, also known as a dropped baton. Anyone have any good stories/recollections of thrilling races where a dropped baton is part of the mix ?

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

I remember seeing that Antone Blair anchor in Austin, 1980 NCAA. The most impressive part was the number of people he passed in the last 100! I think 5 or 6, and weaving in and out between them.

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

Michael Franks in'85 world cup final. The single most amazing leg ever run in the history of mankind..........well I was young and impressionable, and it was pretty exciting.

[tandfman]

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

Well, yes. but that WCup race was so screwed up that it was hard to know what would have happened without all of the jostling at that handoff.

[bhall]

Re: Most Thrilling Anchor Leg Ever?

I log my entry for Derek Mills in the 1992 NCAA in Austin. Hammering past Baylor's Deon Minor and Ohio State's Chris Nelloms while holding off USC's Quincy Watts to anchor the second fastest collegiate time ever (4 or 5 100ths off the best) and become one of only two collegiage teams ever to fun under 3 minutes.

Derek is now retired from racing. A graduate from Georgia Tech in Computer and Electrical Engineering he is currently in the process of getting a joint MBA and JD at Tulane University.