Couda been 1st man under 1'43 ?

[John G]

I know we've been here before, but just imagine what Ovett's 400 speed and thus 800 ability would have been if he hadn't spent his winters racing against Britain's best XC runners over 9 miles of cross country............

[deanouk]

Yes I agree! I don't think Ovett reached his potential in terms of time at any distance. He was certainly capable of running sub 3.30 and 3.47 for the Mile. In '78 he was close to WR form at 800m, and had he focussed on the event in '79 could possibly have broken Juantorena's WR.
Having said that, I don't think he would have approached Coe's 1.42.33 by that point.

I know we've been here before, but just imagine what Ovett's 400 speed and thus 800 ability would have been if he hadn't spent his winters racing against Britain's best XC runners over 9 miles of cross country............

Just imagine what Coe's 1500m ability would have been in '79 had he done more mileage in training; which had been really cut back (in all areas) that year due to focussing on his Finals at Uni; and had he competed in more races!!? His 3.32.1 run in Zurich was practically a solo run and was dreadfully paced in the early stages.

With regards to Boit, I just get the feeling that he had plenty of opportunities to break 1.43 in a long career, if he was capable of it. Remember the pacing he got in Oslo '79 thanks to Coe, but he could not live with what was not an overly fast 50.6. Perhaps he was slightly past his beat by this stage, and I'm sure many will argue this point, but don't forget he was still running a 3.49 Mile in '81! Does anyone know his 400m pb and when?

[malmo]

How about Luciano Susanj?

He ran 1:44.07 in the 74 Euros. .

Doubtful. Susanj soundly defeated Fiasconaro (6th 1:46.3) and a young Steve Ovett (2nd 1:45.8) in the 1974 Euros but outside of that one great year ( three times under 1:45) never broke 1:45.0 again.

Surely Ryun's was intrinsically the faster performance! .

Extrinsic.

[Kirsner72]

When Ryun ran 880yds in 1966 in 1.44.9, some 2 tenths faster than Snell, yet still recording the same time for 800m, how could it be that their times were given as the same? Surely Ryun's was intrinsically the faster performance! .

Ryun's splits for his race were very roughly 53/51, Snell's were roughly 51/53. It's quite possible Ryun actually WAS around .2 seconds faster than Snell from 800 to 880 yards, as Snell's last 100 prolly took well over 14 seconds.

[eldrick]

With regards to Boit, I just get the feeling that he had plenty of opportunities to break 1.43 in a long career, if he was capable of it. Remember the pacing he got in Oslo '79 thanks to Coe, but he could not live with what was not an overly fast 50.6. Perhaps he was slightly past his beat by this stage, and I'm sure many will argue this point, but don't forget he was still running a 3.49 Mile in '81! Does anyone know his 400m pb and when?

boit's 800 "peak" was over by '78 ( i remember him doing nothing of note over 800 after '77 season ), so no great 800's after

upto '77, in perfect race, him & caballo were capable of 1'43-flat, but it's possible by '78 onwards boit had decided to concentrate on 1500 rather than 800 as he may have felt he was losing the basic speed to be ultra-competitive over 800

it's possible he may have been something like 1'43.0/3'35+ prior to '78 & maybe 1'44+/3'33 - 3'35 from '78 onwards

different years, you have different speed/endurance mixes ( check aouita as supreme example of this between '83 - '90 )

[Helen S]

When Ryun ran 880yds in 1966 in 1.44.9, some 2 tenths faster than Snell, yet still recording the same time for 800m, how could it be that their times were given as the same? Surely Ryun's was intrinsically the faster performance! .

Ryun's splits for his race were very roughly 53/51, Snell's were roughly 51/53. It's quite possible Ryun actually WAS around .2 seconds faster than Snell from 800 to 880 yards, as Snell's last 100 prolly took well over 14 seconds.

Kirsner72- I applaud your use of the word prolly.

[AS]

cool interview with Doubell here:

http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/articleid_5293.html

[no one]

Ralph Doubell - had that form, that was amazing to watch