Filbert Bayi's performances in his international debut at the 1972
Olympic Games in Munich, where he was eliminated in the heats of both
the 3000m steeplechase and the 1500m, gave no hint of the incredible
middle distance running talent that he would display in subsequent
years. After Munich, not only did Bayi quickly improve, but he did so
by adopting a daring front running strategy, which made him the most
exciting drawcard at any track meet in which he competed. This tactic
produced significant wins over 1500m at the African Games at Lagos in
January 1973, where he defeated Kenyan legend Kip Keino, and in the
World Games at Helsinki in June that year, where he recorded history's
third fastest time of 3min 34.6sec. Sometimes his tactics backfired, as
happened in a 1 mile race a few days later, where Bayi was caught near
the finish by Ben Jipcho (Kenya), after at one stage holding a lead of
nearly 80 metres.
Bayi's greatest performance was in the 1500m final at
the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch on 2 February 1974. In a
superb display of front running, Bayi set an incredible pace, leading
all the way to win in a new world record time of 3min 32.2 sec. It was
the greatest 1500m race ever, with John Walker (New Zealand), also under
the old world record, and bronze medallist Jipcho only 0.1sec outside
it. On 17 May the following year, Bayi also claimed the 1 mile world
record, when he registered a time of 3min 51.0sec at Kingston, Jamaica.
Two weeks later, he won the memorial Emsley Carr mile at Crystal
Palace in 3min 55.5sec. The third placegetter on that occasion was Pole
Bronislaw Malinowski, who Bayi would meet under much different
circumstances five years later. (Ron Casey)
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