Best from a Nation

[jsquire]

Clay suggested that someone put together an all-time World Cup matchup. The school year is winding down, so I'm the Rockefeller of free time.

The first part is to put together the eight teams competing. Traditionally, there have been teams representing the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, along with the USA and the top two teams in the European Cup. The all-time men's medal leaders at the European Championships are Russia/USSR and the UK, so we'll go with those two.

World Cup scoring is on an 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

Here's our roster for the Pole Vault:

Americas: Rolando Cruz
Europe: Wladislaw Kozakiewicz
Africa: Okkert Brits
Asia: Grigoriy Yegorov
Pacific: Dmitriy Markov
USA: Corny Warmerdam
UK: Geoffrey Elliot
USSR: Sergey Bubka

And the results:
1) Bubka
2) Warmerdam
3) Kozakiewicz
4) Markov
5) Yegorov
6) Brits
7) Cruz
8) Elliot

The Soviets take the early lead. Damn those Communists!

[dj]

Re: Best from a Nation

Think you're better served with Charles Hoff of Norway as your European. But he still finishes third.

[jsquire]

Re: Best from a Nation

Hoff was good, but Kozak set WRs, ranked #1 four times, and won an Oly gold. Hoff set WRs and was the world's best vaulter for at least four seasons and probably would have won the OG in 1924 had he not been hurt, but that's speculation. Kozak gets extra style points for flipping off the Soviets.

[jsquire]

Re: Best from a Nation

We move on to the hammer throw. Our contestants:

Americas: Con Walsh
Asia: Andrey Abduvaliev
Africa: Adam Barnard
Europe: Gyula Zsivotsky
Pacific: Stuart Rendell
USA: Hal Connolly
UK: Tom Nicolson
USSR: Yuri Syedikh

And the results:
1) Syedikh
2) Connolly
3) Zsivotsky
4) Abduvaliev
5) Walsh
6) Nicolson
7) Barnard
8) Rendell

Team scoring through two events:
16 USSR
14 USA
12 Europe
9 Asia
6 Americas
6 Pacific
5 Africa
4 UK

[dj]

Re: Best from a Nation

Kozak raised the WR once by 1cm. Hoff raised it five times in a four-year period before being banned. Total raising was 16cm. He redefined the event, which Kozak didn't do.

[jsquire]

Re: Best from a Nation

Kozak set 2 WRs -- in Milan on 5/11/1980 (by 1 cm) and in the 1980 Moscow Olympics (by 3 cm). Hoff set 5 WRs which improved the standard by a total of 16 cm, and as a pro exceeded the amateur record once more.

As I go through my files, I see that Hoff was undefeated in four seasons (1922, '23, '25, and '26). In the first three he was far better on marks alone than the rest of the world, but by 1926 they began to catch up with him. Gurdgingly, I'll admit you probably have a point. But Kozak just looked so cool!

[jsquire]

Re: Best from a Nation

We move on to the triple jump. And in this corner . . .

Africa: Ajayi Agebebaku
Americas: Adhemar Ferreira da Silva
Asia: Mikio Oda
Europe: Jozef Schmidt
Pacific: Anthony "Nick" Winter
UK: Jonathan Edwards
USA: Mike Conley
USSR: Viktor Saneyev

The placings here get sticky. I'm sure I'll get LOTS of arguments about this one no matter how I rank them.
1) Saneyev
2) Schmidt
3) Edwards
4) da Silva
5) Conley
6) Oda
7) Winter
8) Agebabku

Team scoring through 3 events:
24 USSR
19 Europe
18 USA
12 Asia
11 Americas
10 UK
8 Pacific
6 Africa

[jsquire]

Re: Best from a Nation

Our final field event on the first day of the All-Time World Cup is the discus throw.

Africa: Frantz Kruger
Americas: Luis Delis
Asia: Li Weinan
Europe: Adolpho Consolini (not a solid choice over Danek, Schult, Reidel et al)
Pacific: Les Mills
UK: Robert Weir (great musician, too!)
USA: Al Oerter
USSR: Romas Ubartas (can you believe he's their only DT man ever ranked #1?)

The results:
1) Oerter, of course
2) Consolini
3) Delis
4) Ubartas
5) Kruger
6) Weir
7) Li
8) Mills

Team scoring through 4 events:
29 USSR
26 USA
26 Europe
17 Americas
14 Asia
13 UK
10 Africa
9 Pacific

[gh]

Re: Best from a Nation

>Kozak raised the WR once by 1cm. Hoff raised it
>five times in a four-year period before being
>banned. Total raising was 16cm. He redefined
>the event, which Kozak didn't do.>>

Hoff also set 11 WRs indoors to Kozak's 1. But the main thing to be considered is that Hoff was redefining the event at a a time when there was no (to my knowledge) technological advancement going on in the pole department. I'm willing to bet that the pole that Kozak set his WRs on didn't even exist when he first made the World Rankings.

[jsquire]

Re: Best from a Nation

Hey, I said you were right! And you made darn sure I'm looking stuff up for other events before I post them.

[tandfman]

Re: Best from a Nation

>UK: Robert Weir (great musician, too!)<

The best musician you've named today was da Silva.

[jsquire]

Re: Best from a Nation

Now the running events begin. Lining up for the steeplechase are:

Africa: Moses Kiptanui
Americas: Graeme Fell (terrible name for a steeplechaser)
Asia: Takaharu Koyama
Europe: Gaston Roelants
Pacific: Kerry O'Brien
UK: Chris Brasher
USA: Henry Marsh
USSR: Semyon Rzhishchin

And the places:
1) Kiptanui
2) Roelants
3) Marsh
4) Rzhishchin
5) O'Brien
6) Brasher
7) Fell
8) Koyama

Team scores through 5 events:
34 USSR
33 Europe
32 USA
19 Americas
18 Africa
16 UK
15 Asia
14 Pacific

[jsquire]

Re: Best from a Nation

Lining up for the 800 are:

Africa: Mike Boit
Americas: Joaqium Cruz
Asia: Sri Nam Singh
Europe: Wilson Kipketer
Pacific: Peter Snell
UK: Seb Coe
USA: Mal Whitfield
USSR: Yevgeniy Arzhanov

And across the line they come:
1) Snell
2) Whitfield
3) Kipketer
4) Coe
5) Cruz
6) Arzhanov
7) Boit
8) Singh

Team scoring through 6 events:
39 USA
39 Europe
37 USSR
23 Americas
22 Pacific
21 UK
20 Africa
16 Asia

The Yanks take the lead from the Commies, but the European team is putting up a stiff fight.

[jsquire]

Re: Best from a Nation

As we put the hurdles on the track, our competitors:

Africa: Samuel Matete
Americas: Felix Sanchez
Asia: Duncan White
Europe: Harald Schmid
Pacific: John Holland
UK: Lord David Burghley
USA: Edwin Moses
USSR: Yuriy Lituyev

The results:
1) Moses
2) Schmid
3) Sanchez
4) Lituyev
5) Burghley
6) Matete
7) Holland
8) White

Team scoring through 7 events:
47 USA
46 Europe
42 USSR
29 Americas
25 UK
24 Pacific
23 Africa
17 Asia

[jsquire]

Re: Best from a Nation

Now the first sprint of the meet, the 200 meters.

Africa: Frankie Fredericks
Americas: Don Quarrie
Asia: Koji Ito
Europe: Pietro Mannea
Pacific: James Carlton
UK: Emmanuel McDonald Bailey
USA: Michael Johnson
USSR: Valeriy Borzov

The results:
1) Johnson
2) Fredericks
3) Quarrie, nearly in a dead heat with
4) Mennea
5) Borzov
6) Carlton
7) Bailey
8) Ito

Team scoring through 8 events:
55 USA
51 Europe
46 USSR
35 Americas
30 Africa
27 Pacific
27 UK
18 Asia