Great Performances Under Great Pressure

[rumbleyoungmanrumble]

Just been watching Beijing highlights again, and am even more impressed by Steve Hooker, big cojones!
Got me thinking about other athletes who managed to get it together under pressure, and one that I wasn't aware of was Kravets* in the 95 WC. Two fouls, then 15,50m WR.
Any others/favourites?

[eldrick]

lillak with last throw over fats whitbread in '83

[rumbleyoungmanrumble]

lillak with last throw over fats whitbread in '83

Good one! Just seen it again on Youtube.
Off topic, but also saw the 1971 EC 10000m there too. That was something special, goosebumps A 53,9 last lap and not all out before 300m - amazing for nearly 40 years ago.

[John G]

Thompson's 3rd attempt in the 84 OG DT comes to mind (accompanied by Ron Pickering screaming "it's a better one, a better one, A BETTER ONE"!

IIRC, Lewis needed his last attempt in the 96 OG LJ qualifiers.

On the track, I think Ed Moses's victory in 87 was a real triumph under pressure. He'd lost his winning streak and for the first time in a major final he had company coming off the last hurdle.

[Marlow]

The '91 Tokyo mLJ battle.

Wottle - Munich

[rumbleyoungmanrumble]

The '91 Tokyo mLJ battle.

Wonderful as it was, I don't agree. Powell wasn't the favourite, even though many expected a close battle. And Lewis had 2 attempts to top Powell's WR, and couldn't do it.

[Marlow]

The '91 Tokyo mLJ battle.

Wonderful as it was, I don't agree. Powell wasn't the favourite, even though many expected a close battle. And Lewis had 2 attempts to top Powell's WR, and couldn't do it.

In his own mind, Powell was. He was tired of all the Lewis hype (stick to your damn sprints, man) and KNEW he could and should win, so he willed it to happen.

[Kevin Richardson]

True enough, Marlow, but that does not quite live up to the title of the thread. There was little external pressure in the form of public/fan expectation for him to win.

Conversely, I think Lewis's string of marks (with unreal consistency) were more of a testament to performance under pressure.

Just my two cents.

[rumbleyoungmanrumble]

IIRC, the only "hype" about Lewis was that many expected him to break the WR - I certainly did after his QF 8,50+. 10 years and 65 competitions unbeaten certainly wasn't hype.

Edit - in terms of sheer expectation, Cathy Freeman takes some beating!

[jhc68]

Brumel's WR in Moscow at the USA-USSR meet in front of Khrushchev and the whole politburo and a stadium filled with Russkis.

And/or Jesse Owens any day at all in Berlin.

[Double R Bar]

Two that I like are Louise Ritter winning the high jump in Seoul (1988) and Charles Austin winning the high jump in Atlanta (1996).

[Marlow]

True enough, Marlow, but that does not quite live up to the title of the thread. There was little external pressure in the form of public/fan expectation for him to win.

Yeah, I'll have to agree. I was thinking too much on just 'drama'.

[nevetsllim]

Freeman at the 2000 Olympics is the obvious one.

Lebedeva at the ISTAF meeting in 2005 - Aldama had the lead in the last round and if Lebedeva did not surpass that distance, that was it for the GL jackpot.

[tandfman]

The '91 Tokyo mLJ battle.

And their battle in New York at the National Championships the same year. IIRC, Lewis came from behind on his last jump to win the event by 1 cm.

[Daisy]

Seb Coe in Moscow was under quite a bit of pressure.