Greatest Race ever

ecoli

Okay people here is your chance to share your opinion of what you believe to be the best race of all time. This idea spawned from previous thread with talk of Sonia v Szabo in Sydney so i want peoples thoughts.

Personally standout races for me are:
Empire Games Vancouver 1954 1 mile(from reports i have read on it)
Landy v Bannister

Olympics 1972 Munich 1972 5000m
Viren, Gamoudi, Stewart and Prefontaine

Olympics 2004 Athens 5000m
Bekele v El G

RoyMcC

The Duel In The Sun, Salazar & Beardsley, Boston Marathon 1982.

deadlybuzz

1500m, Commonwealth Games, 1974
Bayi vs Walker vs Dixon


Wanjiru's marathon win in Beijing must also rank as one of the best ever performances at that distance.

TFBubendorfer

Gebrselassie vs Tergat in the 2000 Olympic 10k.

cfitz

800m Olympic Final, Munich

Contenders:
100m Olympic Final, Beijing


From an Irish, stand up shouting point of view:
Colin Costello winning the Junior Indoor AAA 1500m as a 16/17 year old in Birmingham (doesn't sound like a big deal, but you had to be there!).
Mark Carroll bronze, European Championships 5000m (I was a teenager and didn't know we had an Irishman who could compete at that level).

I didn't enjoy Sonia getting beaten by Szabo at all - too agonisingly close to a win!

thirtyfoot

I would have to admit it was Kriss Akabusi beating Pettigrew in the 4 x 400 relay in 1991. The American had won the gold in the 400 flat and had a nice enough lead when he got the baton on the last leg over Akabusi. The headcase sat in and kept sitting in and kept sitting in until the last 40m when he edged past to beat the American. Pure gold. The best I've see on TV I'd say.

Domestically was when Mark Carroll did the 1500/5000 double at Nationals a few years back. He had won the 5000 and I can't remember who he was racing in the 1500 but he egded past in the last 50 and with the whole crowd willing him on he got there.

The race that gave me most joy was Bolt in the 200 in Beijing, I could watch it over and over again especially the look on his face when he comes off the bend. It was "I may have been acting the eejit in the 100, but I mean business in this one" kind of look. Not a great competitive race but a great race.

But, the best competition (wasn't a race) has to be Powell vs Lewis in '91. Without a doubt the greatest competition ever in athletics.

ecoli

cfitz wrote: »

800m Olympic Final, Munich

Contenders:
100m Olympic Final, Beijing


From an Irish, stand up shouting point of view:
Colin Costello winning the Junior Indoor AAA 1500m as a 16/17 year old in Birmingham (doesn't sound like a big deal, but you had to be there!).Mark Carroll bronze, European Championships 5000m (I was a teenager and didn't know we had an Irishman who could compete at that level).

I didn't enjoy Sonia getting beaten by Szabo at all - too agonisingly close to a win!

i know what you mean him and D'Arcy in Kaunas for Euro juniors. irish one two in a great race

TFBubendorfer

Tingle wrote: »

But, the best competition (wasn't a race) has to be Powell vs Lewis in '91. Without a doubt the greatest competition ever in athletics.

I remember that so well. You just knew that one of the longest standing world records in athletics would fall, and that even the loser in that contest might beat the old world record mark. Almost every single jump by both of them was tremendous. Brilliant stuff.

limerickleader

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

Gebrselassie vs Tergat in the 2000 Olympic 10k.

What a race. Especially after Atlanta '96 when Heile sat behind Tergat for the last 2k before sprinting past him in the last lap. In 2000, they left the rest of the field again but this time Tergat just didn't give up and fought all the way to the line, Heile just outfought him on the very last stride. Immense.

goofygirl

limerickleader wrote: »

What a race. Especially after Atlanta '96 when Heile sat behind Tergat for the last 2k before sprinting past him in the last lap. In 2000, they left the rest of the field again but this time Tergat just didn't give up and fought all the way to the line, Heile just outfought him on the very last stride. Immense.

god what a race. i called my goldfish after gebrselaisse when i was younger

Pherekydes

Some really old ones spring to mind:

1971 European 10000m.
1974 C'wealth 1500m
1976 Olympic 800m, 5000m
1980 Olympic 1500m
1983 World 5000m

More recent races: the Geb/Tergat rivalry; the Geb/Bekele handover, especially the Paris 10000m; and the Osaka 10000m, when Bekele seemed beaten on several occasions, yet refused to give in.

At a domestic level, I quite like the women's 100m final from a few years back, where Derval got perfect 10's for her 'dip' finish.

thirtyfoot

Pherekydes wrote: »

At a domestic level, I quite like the women's 100m final from a few years back, where Derval got perfect 10's for her 'dip' finish.

Is that the one when she fell in the rain against Emily Maher I think?

thirtyfoot

Since we are going domestic, I might be stretching it but James Nolan's finger in the air at the bell of the 1500 versus Turnbull. Turnbull went on to beat him and Nolan continued straight off the track without stopping. We'll miss Nolan, a legend!

dna_leri

Coe v's Ovett in Moscow 1980, Coe beaten in 800m, then coming back to win 1500m with Ovett in 3rd.

Pherekydes

Tingle wrote: »

Is that the one when she fell in the rain against Emily Maher I think?

Yep. It was quite a slide. Came back out to win the Hurdles. Hardy woman. I would have been fit for bed after that fall/dip.

thirtyfoot

Pherekydes wrote: »

Yep. It was quite a slide. Came back out to win the Hurdles. Hardy woman. I would have been fit for bed after that fall/dip.

I would imagine there is only one thing worse than carpet burn and thats tartan track burn. Never suffered from either.

HaileGeb

In addition to the ones already mentioned:
Ed Moses V Harold Schmidt 1987 Rome
Billy Konchellah 800m 1987 WC
Seb Coe 1986 800m Stuttgart EC
Gillian O'Sullivans silver in Paris!!
Martin Lel 208 London Marathon
K Bekele just about every time he races!!
Paula Radcliffe 5000m Commonwealth Games Manachester
Jonathon Edwards world record leap! (18-29)
Cathy Freeman Sydney Olympics.
Daley Thompson V Jurgen Hingsen 1984 Decathlon LA

Domestically:
Niall Bruton V Frank O'Mara National 1500m 1994 I think.
1991 National Cross - John Downes
1991 Junior CC John Murray beating Mark Carroll
Our own dual in the sun - Colin Costello V Danny Darcy senior schools 1500m

myflipflops

The best race I've seen in the flesh was Matthews v Power in the National CC in 2002 in ALSAA. It was p**sing down rain and the mud was terrible. They went stride for stride for 12k before Peter Matthews just pulled away in the last 400 for the win. It was an outstanding contest and also the last time I remember there being a proper atmosphere at a national championships.

There was a great picture of Peter covered in mud on the front page of the Irish TImes sports ection that Monday that summed up the day.

HaileGeb

Peter Matthews was indeed a tough gutsy athlete. His first national senior win was in Ballinlough in 1994 - possibly theworst conditions I have ever experienced at a cross country.

helpisontheway

Tingle wrote: »

But, the best competition (wasn't a race) has to be Powell vs Lewis in '91. Without a doubt the greatest competition ever in athletics.

I would have to agree as im a bit of a youtube fanatic and this is by far the most exciting competition i have seen!I end up watching it at least once a month and im not even a big fan of long jump.

Ham Slicer

Mens 100m final from the same championships in Tokyo 1991. Lewis came from nowhere to claim gold and a new world record. 6 guys under 10 secs which was crazy at the time.

Racing Flat

Tingle wrote: »

James Nolan's finger in the air at the bell of the 1500 versus Turnbull.

What was that about - was it signalling that he was going to win, or did he get the lap count wrong? Before my time...