Favourite single race/field event, and a close second.

walshb

Guys/gals, of all the great track and field events in history, Olympics, Worlds etc, which
single ONE is your favourite? You can choose for example, the 1991 Long Jump WC final
in Tokyo. As in, the 6 jumps in the final.

My favourite is Lewis winning the 1991 100 metre world title. Just everything about the race, the competitors, the scene, the fact that Burrell was the world record holder and Lewis never having set a world record during a race.

Also, the way Lewis steamrolled the last 40 metres with that effortless stride and fluidity.

A close second for me is Noah Ngeny beating El Gerrouj in the Sydney games over 1500 metres.

shels4ever

walshb wrote: »

Guys/gals, of all the great track and field events in history, Olympics, Worlds etc, which
single ONE is your favourite? You can choose for example, the 1991 Long Jump WC final
in Tokyo. As in, the 6 jumps in the final.

My favourite is Lewis winning the 1991 100 metre world title. Just everything about the race, the competitors, the scene, the fact that Burrell was the world record holder and Lewis never having set a world record during a race.

Also, the way Lewis steamrolled the last 40 metres with that effortless stride and fluidity.

A close second for me is Noah Ngeny beating El Gerrouj in the Sydney games over 1500 metres.

Always liked the 1986 world XC for some reason, Actually think its one of the first races i remember and I though John Ngugi rocked...

notsofast

AAA in Crystal Palace back in the day, mens 5000m. Steve Ovett in the lead at the last bend, 20m in front, starts waving to the crowd, commentators rabbiting on about how he know that he'd won... except he didn't see John Treacy who just would not give up and pipped Ovett right on the line. Commentators still rabbiting on about how they were sure that Ovett had hung on, but Treacy won. Brilliant stuff.

BeepBeep67

My first real memory of the Olympics (but I do have a hazy Olga Korbut something or other going on) was the 800 / 1500 duals between Coe and Ovett - had me hooked.

gerard65

Coe's 800m WR in '81??. First man to go under 1:42. Even today its a great time. Watched it live, the BBC used to show the Grand Prix races live, even at prime time on a Sat evening.
A close second has to be Eamon's gold in the first world championships in '83.

The best finish ever?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhTtVlgTa_g

ecoli

Close between Munich 72 5k and Hicham El Guerrouj's mile WR in 1999, a man being set up for a record being push as a proper race the way any record should be broken

Pherekydes

1974 CG 1500m. Filbert Bayi won in a WR, leading the whole way.

1971 European 10000m, with Juha Vaatainen outkicking 2-time defending champ Juergen Haase in Helsinki.

RoyMcC

I'd love to have been there when
1. Ronnie Delany picked off the entire field and set a WR in Melbourne 1956
2. Cathy Freeman somehow coped with the pressure of an 80,000 partisan crowd to hold it together and win in Sydney 2000.

wgtomblin

For me, Lasse Viren winning the 10,000m in Munich '72 Olympics, after falling at half-way.

Others include Dave Wottle winning the 800m in Munich '72. He stayed at the back for over half the race, then held pace to pass every runner ahead of him over the last 300m. Gebreselassie's narrow win over Tergat in Sydney 2000, 10,000m was also pretty special.

Brianderunner

I was there when El guerrouj won the olympic 1500m in athens. The best miler in history finally proving it. I celebrated like it was Limerick winning an all ireland.

2nd place has to be the 3000m steeplechase i was also at in the world championships in Paris in 2003, amazing race.

walshb

notsofast wrote: »

AAA in Crystal Palace back in the day, mens 5000m. Steve Ovett in the lead at the last bend, 20m in front, starts waving to the crowd, commentators rabbiting on about how he know that he'd won... except he didn't see John Treacy who just would not give up and pipped Ovett right on the line. Commentators still rabbiting on about how they were sure that Ovett had hung on, but Treacy won. Brilliant stuff.

This one stands out. Is it on youtube?

Some other great ones. Coe's 800 metre record on that weird race track. Was it only a 4 or 5 lane track?

Also from the posts, El Gerrouj breaking the mile record with Noah also breaking the record. What a race.

I did enjoy Coe's first major 800 metre title win when he beat Tom McKean&Cram in the 1986 European Championships

myflipflops

The most enjoyable race race i ever witnessed was Peter Matthews beating Seamus Power in the Inter Club CC is ALSAA in 2002. Absolutely epic 10k of cross country in the mud.

On the world stage, it was Shaheen winning 2003 World Champs steeple chase in Paris. Just craziness!