Arthur Wint

[paulthefan]

ran a 46.2 in the wet sandbox of London and did so with a semifinal on the same day. Im compelled to place him in the top 5 most talented 400m men of all time.

Arthur Wint: Flight Lieutenant, RAF (World War II)

[rhymans]

Curiously the closest comparison with Wint would probably that other wonderful 440-880 man of an even earlier era - John Woodruff. Woodruff likely had a more rapid change of pace, b ut both were tall very long striding men. Other than the much more powerful Tom Courtney and Alberto Juantorena it's difficult to recollect tall 400-800 men since the 30/40's

[catson52]

Curiously the closest comparison with Wint would probably that other wonderful 440-880 man of an even earlier era - John Woodruff. Woodruff likely had a more rapid change of pace, b ut both were tall very long striding men. Other than the much more powerful Tom Courtney and Alberto Juantorena it's difficult to recollect tall 400-800 men since the 30/40's

As discussed some time back on another thread, not too many people have been good at the 400/800 combo. Amongst others, Whitfield got medals in both events at the Olympics - individual not relay. How many others amongst the men? The 800/1500 double is much more common.

[tandfman]

As discussed some time back on another thread, not too many people have been good at the 400/800 combo. Amongst others, Whitfield got medals in both events at the Olympics - individual not relay. How many others amongst the men?

Bevil Rudd (RSA - 1920)
Alex Wilson (CAN - 1932)
Hanns Braun (GER - 1908, 1912)
Wyndham Halswelle (GBR - 1906, 1908)
Paul Pilgrim (USA - 1906)

[Per Andersen]

Re: Arthur Wint

ran a 46.2 in the wet sandbox of London and did so with a semifinal on the same day. Im compelled to place him in the top 5 most talented 400m men of all time.

Arthur Wint: Flight Lieutenant, RAF (World War II)

Bannister said in his book "First Four Minutes" that Wint was the only runner he ever met whose stride length actually interfered with Bannister's own natural rhythm.
In the early 50's they met frequently over the 880 and without Bannister beating him.
According to Bannister Wint was the greatest natural talent he ever saw and who relied mainly on his own natural talent and not training as much as half milers of that time.

[Texas]

Hard to believe a country no bigger than Jamaica could have the world's top three 400m men. Forget what year that Rhoden, McKenley and Wint were the top three in the rankings.

[eldrick]

Re: Arthur Wint

ran a 46.2 in the wet sandbox of London and did so with a semifinal on the same day. Im compelled to place him in the top 5 most talented 400m men of all time.

no disrepect to him, but if he's in top 5, then 5 out of lashawn, jw, mj, quincey, butch, lewis, alonzo, caballo, evans, otis will be required ranked below him

that list doesn't even include guys like everett, cameron, vince matthews, larry james, etc

top 5 thru out eras possibly needs not only gold but a wr lasting for maybe at least 5y or somesuch ( albeit few in original list had chance of wr because of evans altitude time,but he was probably good for 44.0 - 44.1 )

[paulthefan]

Re: Arthur Wint

no disrepect to him, but if he's in top 5, then 5 out of lashawn, jw, mj, quincey, butch, lewis, alonzo, caballo, evans, otis will be required ranked below him ....

well no disrespect to you, but my ranking was with regard to the "most talented"... absolute rankings are for another thread altogether. Nevertheless I easily see 4 (and probably 5 with more concentration) that dont make the all time top 5 list.