T&FN Favourite Athletes THE RESULTS No1 Haile Gebrselassie

[Tuariki]

Jacko was #17 on my list.

And even though he was only 16, had never competed in a senior international, and had only the 30th best senior performance of the year, when this "Favourite Athlete" list was started by mump boy in December, Jacko got my vote not because he is a fellow kiwi and that I competed with his Dad many years ago, but because he rekindled an interest in TnF that had sort of gone into a relative comatose state.

I don't think there has ever been a youth athlete who has ever generated such excitement or who has ever been so dominant over his fellow competitors. Not even the teenage Usain Bolt. I mean has any field eventer in history ever beaten the silver medallist in a major internatinal championship by more than the 19.65% that Jacko did last year at the youth world's?

And what will Jacko do this year? My predictions.

6.00kg -- 24.00
7.26kg -- 21.30
1.75kg -- 65.00

[mump boy]

Seeing as we've we're broken into top 100 (approx) !! and there are some rather iconic names to reminisce about, i'm going to leave it at these 4 for now

more tomorrow

102nd (3 votes 16 points)

Bob Mathias

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Mathias


101 (3 votes 18 points)

Willie Banks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Banks

100 (3 votes 21 points)

Yelena Isinbyeva

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelena_Isinbayeva

[Pego]

I had 13 points on Willie Banks.

[Tuariki]

My apologies to Blanka and Yelena. If I had followed my hormonal biases then you would have each gotten 4 votes.

[donley2]

99 (3 votes 21 points)

Blanka Vlasic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanka_Vla%C5%A1i%C4%87

Yelena Isinbyeva

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelena_Isinbayeva

I had both Vlasic and Isinbyeva. I had Vlasic very high on my list, 2nd I think. As was part of my reasoning for others, I love athletes who compete a lot and I love it when they appear to actually enjoy what they are doing. Playing to the crowd is also nice. Issy was much lower on my list, but clearly her inclusion on my list was more about just absolute dominance than anything else.

[Daisy]

I had 13 points on Willie Banks.

#20 on my list. I remember seeing him compete at Crystal Palace and the whole stand clapping for him. Hard to forget the enthusiasm he generated in the stands.

[mump boy]

98 - (3 votes 25 points)

Calvin Smith

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Smith

Susannah Kallur

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susanna_Kallur

96th (3 votes 26 points)

Bob Seagran

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Seagren

Hicham El Guerrouj

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hicham_El_Guerrouj

94th (3 votes 28 points)

Gerry Lindgren

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Lindgren

Mac Wikinson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Wilkins

93rd (3 votes 29 points)

Romain Mesnil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYpjTh7GRz0

91st (3 votes 30 points)

Ivan Pedroso

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iv%C3%A1n_Pedroso

Tyson Gay

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyson_Gay

90th (3 votes 31 points)

Doina Melinte

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doina_Melinte

87th (3 votes 33 points)

Blanka Vlasic (sorry can't count !!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanka_Vla%C5%A1i%C4%87

Tessa Sanderson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessa_Sanderson

Mike Powell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Powell_%28athlete%29

i lost a couple of my faves in that round, i'll be back to explain the completely different reasons i voted for Romain Mesnil and Doina Melinte

[Flumpy]

I lost 3 there

Romain Mesnil - It would have been rude not to vote for my husband.

Doina Melinte - Always loved Melinte. Back in the 80's she seemed to always be racing on the GP circuit and even then she was in her 30's and considered quite old to still be running (How times have changed). I loved how glamourous she always was and her deceptive plodding running style. I'll never forget when she dropped out of the '92 Olympic final (I think). She puts her hands on her hips, shakes her head and wanders off the track never to be seen again. You could almost read her thoughts 'I'm too old for this. Time to try politics' HA!!!

Blanka Vlasic - Goddess. The very epitome star quality.

[Daisy]

Mike Powell and Tessa Sanderson were both close to my top twenty but didn't quite make the final cut.

I was the right age to track Sanderson's career and the rivalry with Fatima Whitbread was probably part of the attraction (as already mentioned for Thompson and Hingsen). Her longevity in the sport was incredible too.

The Carl Lewis/Mike Powell rivalry probably helped me like Powell since he had that underdog status. I will never forget the focus and then pure joy seen in Tokyo when he won the world championship and broke the WR. I was lucky enough to be able to watch that whole series on the BBC as the followed the event live. Incredible that a 'drawn out' field event could have you on the edge of your seat.

[maroon]

every time i see people like kallur and blanka and the powells i have to go back to my list to check -- why weren't they in my top 20?

anyway, love, love, love kallur. hated that she got robbed by michelle perry at the wc. hated even more that he hasn't regained that form. maybe she will do a brigitte foster hylton and win a gold medal when everybody is counting her out. (bfh is high on my list as well -- that berlin win was one of the most satisfying to see)

perry, oth, was a fine athlete, but i never really warmed up to her.

[pakillo]

seems only Romain Mesnil deserved video link
Like him very much, remember he was a big favorite in Paris 2003 but failed in qualif., I'm happy he still competes

[mump boy]

seems only Romain Mesnil deserved video link
Like him very much, remember he was a big favorite in Paris 2003 but failed in qualif., I'm happy he still competes

i get told off for posting videos so i'm saving them for special occasions

Flumpy has expressed my reasons for voting for Mesnil and Melinte

I was working on an event for Coke's olympic sponsorship in Sep and i had to get loads of kids from the local area to attend. Tessa runs a youth project in the olympic borough http://www.tsfa.co.uk/index.php so i emailed them and asked if any of their kids would like to come. Next thing i know, i get a phone call 'hello this is Tessa Sanderson' !! i a rather incoherent conversation ensued with me saying things like "i'm a massive fan' and 'you're amazing' i think she thought i was a bit tapped

[mump boy]

i'm pleased that Calvin Smith got votes, he always seemed like a gentleman and was overshadowed by the more attention seeking sprinters of the time

I thought Hicham would get more votes.

[Vault-emort]

Bob Mathias and Tessa Sanderson both got votes from me. I'd explain why, but after 'The Gruber Affair', I'm a bit worried about upsetting some people.

[Vault-emort]

In any contest - sporting or not - there is good and there is evil.

In the javelin, there is Tessa Sanderson and there is Fatima Whitbread.

The 80s for me was all about seeing the evil one grasp defeat from the jaws of victory. And it was even sweeter when Tessa was the one on top of the podium.

I'd first read about Tessa in a report of the 1974 Commonwealth Games, where the writer had commented that Petra Rivers would not have won the gold if the young English thrower hadn't fouled a massive throw. From here I kept looking out for her results and, always a fan of the all-rounder, liked the fact that she also dabbled in the pentathlon/heptathlon (and maybe the 400H?) with reasonable results before specialising.

[nevetsllim]

I also voted for Melinte. I'm a huge middle-distance fan, I especially enjoyed the women's 800m and 1500m from the 1980s and I seem to be drawn to all of the Romanians so it makes sense I included Melinte in my list of favourite athletes, even though it was all way before my time. Like someone said about Samolenko, she came across as having a personality (perhaps not the most amiable one though Oh, and I loved how she was always dripping in gold when she raced) unlike lots of the Eastern Bloc athletes (more so than Puica and Ivan too IMO). She was a superb tactician and had a devastating sprint finish too, so what's not to like?

After she won the Olympic 800m title in 1984, I think we pretty much all know she turned her attention primarily to winning prize money but she still had some memorable races even though she was normally a bit stale when the majors came around, and she had a really competitive rivalrly with Kratochvilova in 1985. They had a super race in Stockholm where they were neck-and-neck in the home stretch before Melinte pulled a few inches ahead in the final 20m and they had a similar tussle in Zurich, albeit off a much faster pace, although Lovin came from nowhere to snatch victory on the line from Kratochvilova.

And even at quite an advanced age, she was delivering some great runs. Even though she'd pretty much been focusing on 1500m especially at the champs, she still managed to decisively beat Wodars at the 1989 European Cup and I'm fairly sure she beat Ana Quirot over 800m in 1991 at the age of 34.

I think she perhaps could have done a bit more at 3000m though. She debuted with 8:37 in 1986 although she DNFed in the heats of the European Champs, then she creamed McColgan, Bondarenko, Burki, Kristiansen et al in a 3000m race in Stockholm in 87.

The Olympic 1500m final in 1992 was her last major race which sadly ended in a DNF. She showed good form in the build-up with a 1:57.35 800m and she ran Boulmerka quite close in Lausanne (she might have finished ahead of Rogacheva too) so it was quite close to see her career end like that. She finished her career by finishing 13th in Zurich in 4:13.37 before finishing last in a road-mile in Edinburgh in 4:51.

[mojo]

Have I missed Mary Peters or is she still in the running (and jumping and throwing).

[John G]

I used to enjoy arriving at The Palace early to watch the athletes in the warm up area. Melinte's coach used to give her a pre-race massage. Nothing unusual in that, but he focussed primarily on her breasts. Quite a bizarre sight, him stood facing her, making vigorous circular movements.

I must stress this is not a Gruber-esque anecdote.

[mump boy]

I used to enjoy arriving at The Palace early to watch the athletes in the warm up area. Melinte's coach used to give her a pre-race massage. Nothing unusual in that, but he focussed primarily on her breasts. Quite a bizarre sight, him stood facing her, making vigorous circular movements.

I must stress this is not a Gruber-esque anecdote.

[Flumpy]

Flumpy has expressed my reasons for voting for Mesnil and Melinte

i don't understand what you mean. My Romy isn't a bigamist!!!

[Gabriella]

I used to enjoy arriving at The Palace early to watch the athletes in the warm up area. Melinte's coach used to give her a pre-race massage. Nothing unusual in that, but he focussed primarily on her breasts. Quite a bizarre sight, him stood facing her, making vigorous circular movements.

I must stress this is not a Gruber-esque anecdote.

Rember how she would lie on her back, get her legs high in the air and move onto her upper back (with her elbows on the floor and hands holding her lower back for balance) and shake her legs loose before a race? I've not described that very well but you get the picture!

I too loved Doina. Loved her gypsy gold, loved her badly dyed hair,(it seemed that to be a great Romanian runner you had to have a bad dye job...see Puice too) loved her running style (which Szabo gratefully copied) and loved her sprint finish. She always came across as having an air of superiority about her. She was the Joan Collins of the track..only the trashy version

I used to love the Romanian kit in the 80's as well; those awful pale blue brushed cotton/towelling gym knickers and yellow vest. So wrong but so right.

[nevetsllim]

every time i see people like kallur and blanka and the powells i have to go back to my list to check -- why weren't they in my top 20?

anyway, love, love, love kallur. hated that she got robbed by michelle perry at the wc. hated even more that he hasn't regained that form. maybe she will do a brigitte foster hylton and win a gold medal when everybody is counting her out. (bfh is high on my list as well -- that berlin win was one of the most satisfying to see)

perry, oth, was a fine athlete, but i never really warmed up to her.

I had a bit of a frosty experience with Perry. I was hunting for autographs at the Sheffield Grand Prix in 2007 (I normally don't bother but I was sitting right by where the athletes leave the track and being 16 at the time, I felt I was on the cusp of being able to do this age-wise and after the 100m hurdles finished, she was signing autographs on the other side of the exit to the mixed-zone and this annoying kid next to me kept shouting 'Perry, Perry - come here, Perry.' She obviously thought it was me who was heckling her and she gave me a rather nasty before snapping she'll sign my programme in a minute.

[mump boy]

I too loved Doina. Loved her gypsy gold, loved her badly dyed hair,(it seemed that to be a great Romanian runner you had to have a bad dye job...see Puice too) loved her running style (which Szabo gratefully copied) and loved her sprint finish. She always came across as having an air of superiority about her. She was the Joan Collins of the track..only the trashy version

I used to love the Romanian kit in the 80's as well; those awful pale blue brushed cotton/towelling gym knickers and yellow vest. So wrong but so right.

all of this ^ x 10

just looking back and Hassiba Boulmerka only got 1 vote, i don't know i didn't vote for her Barcelona 1500 is one of my favourite races of all time

[Gabriella]

I wonder, do you think gh will let us start a thread on our least favourite athletes? I have plenty

I loved Boulmerka too, but again, I did not include her. I think I should have spent more time on my nominations

We shouldn't under estimate what a big deal it was for women to compete in athletics in certain countries. Thank God for Boulmerka, Shouua and Nawal El Moutawakel, they really were pioneers.

Boulmerka had a rather..unusual face, but when I saw her back in 92 glammed up with lots of make-up and a chanel-type suit, she looked like any other rich Arab you might see walking around Paris. She was a million miles away from the tiger we'd see on the track. However much I enjoyed her winning in both Tokyo and Barcelona, for some reason my two biggest memories of her are the 95 Worlds where she raced Holmes to the line in the SF and her failure to finish in Atlanta. It's funny how certain things stick in the mind.

[Fortius19]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, can't believe I forgot Sally Pearson on my list.

No room on my list for for Bob Mathias, S. Kallur, El G or John Powell.

Vlasic out already? I had her as my number 14
I felt so bad for her as she had three losses in 2007-08 at the worst possible times. 2007 she lost her first Golden leauge meet to be out of the jackpot. Then she lost the LAST Golden Meet of '08 to miss out on that jackpot too! And, of course, losing the Gold Medal was an enormous disappointment.

[mump boy]

I wonder, do you think gh will let us start a thread on our least favourite athletes? I have plenty

I loved Boulmerka too, but again, I did not include her. I think I should have spent more time on my nominations

We shouldn't under estimate what a big deal it was for women to compete in athletics in certain countries. Thank God for Boulmerka, Shouua and Nawal El Moutawakel, they really were pioneers.

Boulmerka had a rather..unusual face, but when I saw her back in 92 glammed up with lots of make-up and a chanel-type suit, she looked like any other rich Arab you might see walking around Paris. She was a million miles away from the tiger we'd see on the track. However much I enjoyed her winning in both Tokyo and Barcelona, for some reason my two biggest memories of her are the 95 Worlds where she raced Holmes to the line in the SF and her failure to finish in Atlanta. It's funny how certain things stick in the mind.

Was it 96 she veered off the track, then start running again and then gave up ?, in my head it was 97

[donley2]

i'm pleased that Calvin Smith got votes, he always seemed like a gentleman and was overshadowed by the more attention seeking sprinters of the time

I was one of the Calvin Smith voters. I liked him a lot because neither looked or acted like the Incredible Hulk. I also like that he ran a lot of 200's, which is so often a complete afterthought for the 100 meter stars.

[spvxv0]

I am surprised Hicham didn't get more votes. He was my #3 on my list.

Calvin Smith was one of my picks (#16).

[8aldP|23]

Jacko was #17 on my list.

And even though he was only 16, had never competed in a senior international, and had only the 30th best senior performance of the year, when this "Favourite Athlete" list was started by mump boy in December, Jacko got my vote not because he is a fellow kiwi and that I competed with his Dad many years ago, but because he rekindled an interest in TnF that had sort of gone into a relative comatose state.

I don't think there has ever been a youth athlete who has ever generated such excitement or who has ever been so dominant over his fellow competitors. Not even the teenage Usain Bolt. I mean has any field eventer in history ever beaten the silver medallist in a major internatinal championship by more than the 19.65% that Jacko did last year at the youth world's?

And what will Jacko do this year? My predictions.

6.00kg -- 24.00
7.26kg -- 21.30
1.75kg -- 65.00

Jacko also 17 on my list. Glad he chose SP over rugby!

[72]

I have not noticed Mary Peters on the list so far but Mump will no doubt put me right on that. She is one of mine, for sure.

[mump boy]

I have not noticed Mary Peters on the list so far but Mump will no doubt put me right on that. She is one of mine, for sure.

you're right Gold Medal MAry hasn't appeared yet

i'll post more in an hour

[26mi235]

Well, I am shocked; one of my 'own' favorites that it seemed unlikely anyone else would pick, Deines is not only not in the 1-vote category, he is not in the s-vote category and even in 3-vote land he must have 14+ points and he only got 2 from me.

[Daisy]

Well, I am shocked

Maybe mump didn't get your ballot?

[mojo]

I have not noticed Mary Peters on the list so far but Mump will no doubt put me right on that. She is one of mine, for sure.

you're right Gold Medal MAry hasn't appeared yet

i'll post more in an hour

Yay!

I got Mary's autobiography when I was a gawky, shy and insecure 14 year old whose life revolved around track. It was my way to escape from a difficult life. She became my hero and role model. I could idenify with her in many ways. The plain girl who worked hard and made it etc. I almost met her at the Victoria CWG-kept hearing oh she was just here etc. but never did. I had her book with me. I would have probably turned into a blubbering idiot telling her how much she meant to me as a teenager...lol.

One of my friends here on the board ,Jon, got her to sign a picture of herself and he framed it. I really treasure that and I still dream of meeting her one day.

She was not my number one pick however. That goes to another female athlete who I would also love to meet.

[Daisy]

She was not my number one pick however. That goes to another female athlete who I would also love to meet.

A heptathlete?