bman wrote:Haile Gebrselassie Maurice Greene Johnny Gray Cathy Freeman Michael Johnson Rafer Johnson Bernard Lagat Edwin Moses Carl Lewis Paula Radclife David Rudisha Winona Tyus
So, 11** big names will not even make the list.
Vault-emort wrote:I wonder if there is more than one currently competing athlete in the top ten?
From the names above 8 are currently competing.
** Based on the fact that one in my top 20 is still to be revealed and not mentioned by either Tuariki or Bman.
bman wrote:Haile Gebrselassie Maurice Greene Johnny Gray Cathy Freeman Michael Johnson Rafer Johnson Bernard Lagat Edwin Moses Carl Lewis Paula Radclife David Rudisha Winona Tyus
So, 11** big names will not even make the list.
Vault-emort wrote:I wonder if there is more than one currently competing athlete in the top ten?
From the names above 8 are currently competing.
** Based on the fact that one in my top 20 is still to be revealed and not mentioned by either Tuariki or Bman.
72 wrote:Zatopek... A man who stood up to his government of the day and suffered for his democratic ideals
Please expound.
I can chip in. Zátopek was a career soldier, reaching a rank of Colonel. He strongly denounced invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact nations in 1968. He was demoted, discharged and had to do all sorts of menial jobs.
I happen to be an emigrant as a result of that invasion.
Wow. I'm looking at this thing and there are going to be some HUGE names that get left out. And a lot a lot of medium-huge names. I think I know the top 9 for sure. I predict no Brits will be in the top 10 . We will see. It depends if people are tilting towards legends of old or current stars.
bman wrote:Haile Gebrselassie Maurice Greene Johnny Gray Cathy Freeman Michael Johnson Rafer Johnson Bernard Lagat Edwin Moses Carl Lewis Paula Radclife David Rudisha Winona Tyus
So, 11** big names will not even make the list.
Vault-emort wrote:I wonder if there is more than one currently competing athlete in the top ten?
From the names above 8 are currently competing.
** Based on the fact that one in my top 20 is still to be revealed and not mentioned by either Tuariki or Bman.
Evelyn Ashford???? Surly you are not going to leave out my favorite athlete of all time!!
Flumpy wrote:She did the Hep in Gothenburg??? At the WC's???
I have no recollection of that at all.
Flumpy come on, call yourself a fan It was one of the most hyped events leading into Gothenberg, JJK vs Drechsler vs Shouua...the IAAF had promotional posters with Drechsler and Shouua on describing it as a clash of worlds!
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I have a vague recollection of Heike doing a 100h but other than that nothing
bman wrote:Wow. I'm looking at this thing and there are going to be some HUGE names that get left out. And a lot a lot of medium-huge names. I think I know the top 9 for sure. I predict no Brits will be in the top 10. We will see. It depends if people are tilting towards legends of old or current stars.
Firstly, thanks Pego, you saved me telling bushop all about the qualities outside track and field possessed by Emil Zatopek; who was sent to some dreadful employment over the years by the government for speaking up for the Czech people. Was the most highly respected of athletes by all those that knew him. When I saw him run in London at White City , in the early Fifties, the crowd were cheering for him with the famous Zatopek chant much more than for the Brits in the race.!
72 wrote:Firstly, thanks Pego, you saved me telling bushop all about the qualities outside track and field possessed by Emil Zatopek; who was sent to some dreadful employment over the years by the government for speaking up for the Czech people. Was the most highly respected of athletes by all those that knew him. When I saw him run in London at White City , in the early Fifties, the crowd were cheering for him with the famous Zatopek chant much more than for the Brits in the race.!
By all me and discuss who you think is left but please refrain from saying who you voted for, it makes it too easy to work out if everyone joins in. It would be even better if you didn't use names either.
deanouk wrote:It's been great reading the positive responses to different poster's choices, but I find it quite strange and somewhat depressing that practically all positive comments about Ovett (whom I voted for in my top 20 too) are almost invariably followed by either a blatant swipe or indirect slight of Seb Coe. Why must the rejoicing of one's career/performances be justified by comparing it to the other?
A lot of it sounds pretty jaundiced to me. I completely understand why Ovett is so popular, but, after all, Coe is pretty popular on here too, as these results show. I could easily go down the same line as others in my responses, but I shall refrain to say why I had Coe above Ovett on my list by being negative to Steve.
All I will say, is that whoever thinks Coe wasn't exciting to watch in his prime must be on something, or hasn't watched much athletics. Not only was he one of the best stylists on the track, possessed of possibly the greatest kick, but his collection of world records AND Olympic medals over 2 distances is unrivaled by any other middle distance runner in history. His comeback from the abyss in Moscow to victory in the space of a week, and his ability to regain his top position 4 years later after a serious and lengthy illness, not to mention having been written off by media and other athletes alike, were inspiring and showed all the guts in the world.
Well done Steve and well done Seb! I wish we had just one person half as good as either of you running for Britain in this summer's 800 and 1500 finals.
Athletics was huge in Britain in the Coe/Ovett era - literally headline news. It stirred the kind of emotions you normally only find amongst football fans. If you preferred Coe over Ovett or vice versa your feelingS about the 'other one' were akin to the feelings Man Utd fans have towards Man City or Arsenal fans towards Spurs. Viewed from a distance objectively it can seem childish, even jaundiced. In fact you're right, Deano. But when you were wrapped up in it, that's just how you felt. I think sometimes sport gives us an excuse to put our objective, reasonable, mild-mannered selves to one side and enjoy being a little subjective, unreasonable and downright partisan.
I was at the Palace last summer when Mo produced that amazing kick. The crowd just went WHOOSH - a combination of noise and movement as everyone were swept up by what he was doing on the track in front of them. An exhilarating, goose bump inducing moment. Times that experience by 10: that's what it was like when Steve used to kick. And there's no question at all that The Palace was Steve's home crowd - Coe and Cram never received the same level of adulation.
Anyway, for what it's worth, I think Coe was a better athlete than Ovett but I loved the latter and couldn't stand the former. Certain races still move me to tears and the WC 1977 is my favourite sporting moment ever.
Anyway, for what it's worth, I think Coe was a better athlete than Ovett but I loved the latter and couldn't stand the former. Certain races still move me to tears and the WC 1977 is my favourite sporting moment ever.
I know exactly what you are saying. I was always a Coe fan in those days, but I was pretty young and I can be excused now for being partisan then. As I've grown up and seen more and read more about both of them and the era, I can appreciate their contributions and rivalry on a different level. I still believe Coe to be the better athlete, but can often be found on here and other boards singing Ovett's praises too. I think it is pretty lame the way some people hang on to such polarised views that are largely based around a myth or the views of a select few individuals. The idea that Coe was arrogant and Ovett "one of the lads" is ludicrous. How can an onlooker take any pleasure from watching someone who regularly demeaned fellow competitors by waving at them on the crown of the bend!? Great theatre I grant you, and that in itself does not make him a bad person, but it does make those who then criticise Coe for being aloof and driven, somewhat hypocritical.
There is a lot of reverse snobbery involved. Coe was always portrayed as middle class and with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he was the one who went to a secondary modern comprehensive, and it was Ovett who went to the more middle class Grammar school. A female colleague of mine went to the same secondary school as Coe in Sheffield, Tapton, and it was a very ordinary place by all accounts. He was her prefect and she said that the kids would often see him running round the fields at lunch time.
There is a general unwritten rule in England that success shouldn't be worked too hard for. They like people to be successful but look down upon it if the individual has to strive too hard and make sacrifices. Coe has opened himself up for criticism by doing things like working for the Sports Council, submitting research on peds and helping to acquire the Olympics for London. All political roles, and hell I'm no fan of politicians myself, but at least he's gone on to do something and try to make a difference. He hasn't rested on his laurels as an ex athlete or become some kind of celebrity. He's actually working to improve the sport which gave him so much. There were always going to be people who lost out on Olympic tickets, and this would have happened whatever system LOCOG had chosen. So, as head of Locog he was always going to get criticism. So he could have not taken the role, which might have made him more popular, but he was prepared to do the work and put his head above the parapet and have shots made at him.
I think Daley Thompson made a pertinent speech about him a few years ago when he received an award on Sports Personality of the Year. He basically said that Coe's role in not only UK athletics but UK sport in general was underestimated and under appreciated.
With all this in mind, I don't think that what any athlete does after they retire should have much baring on who to vote for in terms of "favourite" athlete. Ovett was a charismatic and rebellious figure, and these are characteristics often associated with popularity. That's fine. What I can't stand is the systematic negative and inaccurate portrayal of one person in order to contrast a more favourable light on someone else.
I was and remain a Coe fan even though I hated him when he broke Juantoreno's 800m WR (which was the first time I'd heard of him.) I was a big fan of El Caballo since 1976 at age 8. Always preferred Coe over Ovett, thought he was the better athlete in my teenage eyes. Never liked Cram much but rated him. Can't wait to see the top 10. I am glad AP never made the WIC team, that gun has totally fuxX0r3d the 60s
bman wrote:Wow. I'm looking at this thing and there are going to be some HUGE names that get left out. And a lot a lot of medium-huge names. I think I know the top 9 for sure. I predict no Brits will be in the top 10. We will see. It depends if people are tilting towards legends of old or current stars.
I don't.
You have to be right. I discounted (on purpose) the person who you are referring to when I made that prediction, but I must have been drunk because no way in hell did he get no votes upon further reflection.
Denty brings up Alberto Juantorrena, I am really surprised that he didn't finish higher. He would have up there if I had submitted a list. A truly unique athlete. I know he is involved administratively now but I don't know anything about that, maybe people held that against him. I would be interested to learn more about what he does now.
bman wrote:Wow. I'm looking at this thing and there are going to be some HUGE names that get left out. And a lot a lot of medium-huge names. I think I know the top 9 for sure. I predict no Brits will be in the top 10. We will see. It depends if people are tilting towards legends of old or current stars.
I don't.
You have to be right. I discounted (on purpose) the person who you are referring to when I made that prediction, but I must have been drunk because no way in hell did he get no votes upon further reflection.
Denty brings up Alberto Juantorrena, I am really surprised that he didn't finish higher. He would have up there if I had submitted a list. A truly unique athlete. I know he is involved administratively now but I don't know anything about that, maybe people held that against him. I would be interested to learn more about what he does now.
He an IAAF council member and was sitting in front of me yesterday
I wonder if, on the average, Coe is more popular than Ovett among American fans and, if so, because the two (and ALL other athletics performers) got much less media exposure on this side of the pond, but Coe's 1979 season, and the Dream Mile in particular, got him the most notice and got it first. For me, that 1979 mile WR was the first one since I closely started following track and field (1976.) I remember going out for a hard ten-miler with my friend right after watching it, we were 17 at the time, and we were marveling at the race and my friend said, "just think....there are probably a few thousand guys all over the country all fired-up and doing exactly what we're doing right now." It was a treat, the year after Rono's brilliant 1978, to have another guy taking down middle distance records seemingly at will.
Paula Radcliffe may be one of my least favorite athletes who has never tested positive for drugs. Holding up the placard, sitting on the curb boo-hooing, ...her hype (she's a scrawnier Princess Diana to the brits )! The great news here for me is that she won't be #1 (still sucks that she made the top-10)
preston wrote:Paula Radcliffe may be one of my least favorite athletes who has never tested positive for drugs. Holding up the placard, sitting on the curb boo-hooing, ...her hype (she's a scrawnier Princess Diana to the brits )! The great news here for me is that she won't be #1 (still sucks that she made the top-10)
if ever anyone starts a competition/forum for the nastiest creep on this board I think Preston would win hands down. Sh*t head would certainly have my vote .
72 wrote:if ever anyone starts a competition/forum for the nastiest creep on this board I think Preston would win hands down. Sh*t head would certainly have my vote .
Agreed. Preston's comments about Paula Radcliffe would have to be the most poisonous I have read on the TnF forum. Radcliffe wasn't on my list of 20 but like thousands of others I stand in awe of her achievements.
72 wrote:if ever anyone starts a competition/forum for the nastiest creep on this board I think Preston would win hands down. Sh*t head would certainly have my vote .
72 wrote:if ever anyone starts a competition/forum for the nastiest creep on this board I think Preston would win hands down. Sh*t head would certainly have my vote .
No need to have a vote let's just crown him already
I voted for Paula early teens I think
The woman is amazing, and it is such a shame that she currently defined by the one of the very few bad days she's ever had.
Why shouldn't she cry when she realizes the one thing that she has trained for her whole life has just ended in failure? The fact that she had known for days going into the race that she wasn't in shape because of the adverse reaction to anti inflammatory medication (I think) yet still kept going to 23 miles in the fallen hope that it might some together is testament to her dedication.
There is no one I will be supporting more in the summer and there is no one who is more deserving of a fairytale end to their career
And the fact that she actively supports a clean sport is one of the many commendable things about her
Well said mump boy! I hope she is able to reach something approaching her peak for London. I wish there were a few more elite athlete's making outspoken comments about drug use. The Indoor Worlds were somewhat tarnished for me, with so many medal winners having been previously banned for doping violations. It doesn't send out the right message to those youngsters or the verge of elite status.
72 wrote:if ever anyone starts a competition/forum for the nastiest creep on this board I think Preston would win hands down. Sh*t head would certainly have my vote .
No need to have a vote let's just crown him already
I voted for Paula early teens I think
The woman is amazing, and it is such a shame that she currently defined by the one of the very few bad days she's ever had.
Why shouldn't she cry when she realizes the one thing that she has trained for her whole life has just ended in failure? The fact that she had known for days going into the race that she wasn't in shape because of the adverse reaction to anti inflammatory medication (I think) yet still kept going to 23 miles in the fallen hope that it might some together is testament to her dedication.
And despite breaking her leg just a few months before Beijing, Paula still managed to run with the group for the first 30km and stayed in medal contention longer than her great track rivals Adere and Wami who dropped out between 30-35km. Then she comes back and runs one of the fastest-ever 10-miles of all-time in Portsmouth and smokes a decent field in NY.
Winning a medal is going to be very tough but I just have a feeling it might all come together. Yes, I can't quantify this with much conviction but I just think it might.
scratching my head as to why so much hostility towards preston. all he did was spell out why he doesn't like ms. radcliffe (the princess diana reference was probably unnecessary). is she a sacred cow? did she ever present evidence for her public drug accusations or were they based on speculation?
maroon wrote:did she ever present evidence for her public drug accusations or were they based on speculation?
They were based on the fact that Yegorova failed a test for EPO yet was allowed to compete at the WC, so hardly speculation. Couldn't you have looked that up?
. We will see. It depends if people are tilting towards legends of old or current stars.
It was one of the most hyped events leading into Gothenberg, JJK vs Drechsler vs Shouua...the IAAF had promotional posters with Drechsler and Shouua on describing it as a clash of worlds!
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