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When Alberto Juantorena (Cuba) the 1976 double Olympic Champion's 800m.
World record of 1min. 43.44sec. fell to Sebastian Coe in 1979, by over a
second, one might have thought that was Seb's ultimate statement over
two laps. Two years later and now the Olympic 1500m. champion, he ran
yet another stunning 800m, on this occasion in Florence, where he
reduced the record by half a second to 1min 41.72sec. on June 10th. He
thus became the first man to break the 1min. 42sec. barrier as well as
the first to break 1min. 43sec.
By the close of the 20th C. the 1min.
41sec. barrier was still intact. Two months later, on the 19th of August
1981, he was again in world record-breaking form but this time it was
to be four laps of the track- the classic one mile. The place was
Zurich, the venue of his sole 1500m. World record and it was Steve
Ovett's record he was after. He duly broke the record, shaving three
tenths of a second from his rival's time, only to lose it one week later
again to Steve !
Not to be outdone Seb travelled to Brussels on August
28th to compete in the "Golden Mile" determined to regain the record he
had set only nine days earlier. He was not to be disappointed,
destroying the high class field with a new time of 3min. 47.33sec. - the
first ever sub 3min. 48sec. - and a time neither Steve nor Seb ever
bettered.
It was in fact another Steve (Cram) who beat it in 1985.
Records apart Seb had a lean time between his two Olympics. At the 1982
European Championships the unknown German Hans-Peter Ferner (see photo above No. 247)
beat him in the 800m. 1min. 46.33sec. to 1min 46.68sec. and he did not
compete at the inaugural World Championships in 1983, the 1500m. at both
of those Championships going to Steve Cram.
Would he defend his Olympic
1500m. title was the big question of 1984? (George Herringshaw)
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