T&FN Favourite Olympic Moment Poll Results No1 David Rudisha

[mump boy]

Now i've added everything up i can allocate places as well

2 Votes

11 points

89th
Hassiba Boulmerka 1500m win 92

12 points

87th
Sanya 400m Win 12
Arimori Arimori Arimori 92

13 points

83rd
MLJ Pedroso v Taurima 00
Bob Hayes 4x100m leg 64
Bob Hayes 100m 64

14 points

82nd Mens TJ 96 Kenny Winning/Jonathan Edwards foul

15 points

81st Alan Wells 100m win 80

16 points

77th
Xiang Liu 2004 win and WR 04
Kenteris and Thanou drug bust 04
Cruz 800m 84
Gaby v Sonia 2000

17 points

76th W 4x400m 96

18 points

75th Miruts Yifter double 80

19 points

72nd
Kazankina w800m 76
John Walker 1500m 76
John Aki Bua 400mh 72

20 points

70th
Ben Johnson DQ 88
w100m '92

[Rog]

Allan Wells 1980 was one of mine. It was my first Olympics, I was a kid, I loved the sprints and he was the first British medal hope competing for a medal. All very exciting! I had thought he had a good chance of victory, but it was a close race and he was in lane 8, with the Cuban Leonard in lane 1, and as they crossed the line it was hard to tell who had won. Eventually Allan started celebrating and then they announced he was the winner. It had all been incredibly tense, and from my point of view there was a good outcome. Then there was footage of his wife yelling "Come on Allan! Come on Allan!" to watch, which at the time seemed hilarious, but later I saw the film "Allan Wells - No Easy Way" which showed Allan and Margot preparing for, and competing in, Moscow and I gained some insight into how hard they had worked for Allan's success.

Allan said later that the wind was swirling more in the outer lanes in the home straight, making conditions more difficult than in the inside lanes. I wondered whether he was placed in lane 8, and Leonard in lane 1 away from the winds, to try to assist a Communist victory (there wasn't a serious Soviet hope for gold). I know Marlies Gohr was put in lane 8 for the women's race. I suspect those lane draws may have been deliberate to try to rig the desired Soviet/Communist outcome.

[Daisy]

2 Votes

15 points 81st
Alan Wells 100m win 80
16 points 77th
Cruz 800m 84
19 points 72nd
John Aki Bua 400mh 72
20 points 70th
Ben Johnson DQ 88

These are all mine. Rog's description of Wells is great, it parallels my experience. I also used to train at Meadowbank, and it was interesting to hear the stories of Wells, especially his passion for the speedball. Another of his innovations was wearing cycling shorts to protect his legs against the cold. In retrospect, that was beginning of a billion dollar sports industry with all the lycra tights that followed.

Cruz was amazing, to see him dominate Coe was a real surprise, before that he had not really been on my radar.

Although I never witnessed Aki Bua's win I always admired him. To break the world record from lane 1 was incredible. He was one of the first stars that got me interested in athletics.

Johnson's inclusion is bitter sweet. I remember getting up in the middle of the night and his performance was jaw dropping. Accentuated by the look on Lewis' face at the end of the race. It was one of the most memorable races and the DQ can never erase that. If anything the DQ makes the race even more memorable as the whole roller coaster ride would have been ridiculed as a fictional script.

[mump boy]

11 points

89th
Hassiba Boulmerka 1500m win 92

This is me, it's just an awesome race. Boulmerka won the world champs in 91 but wasn't necessarily the favourite going into the Olympics. Back there weren't any female distance runners (or any distance) who were muslim or from North Africa so i was routing for her but Doina Melinte was was my favourite for old times sake.

Rogachova went out a a blistering pace, first 400m in 60.66 !! surely she wouldn't keep it up. but she did with 64 2nd lap which had the field in single file. At the bell in 2.54 Rogachove led from Boulmerka with Melinte at the back of the field. With 200m to go the inevitable happened and Boulmerka unleashed her devastating kick, cut to Melinte who has stepped off the track shacking her head as if to say 'no more'. It was symbolic of the changing of the guard in women's middle distance. It would be the last we would see of her at the top level, the same with Samelenko (who came 4th) and the first time we'd see the CHN runners with Qu coming 3rd and giving us a taste of things to come

Boulmerka finished in in 3.55.31 the 4th fastest of all time, screaming with delight and pointing at her number and shouting Algerie, she's done it for her country and muslim women who want to take part in sport

MAZE as the kids say

[nevetsllim]

Mump - Sonia vs. Szabo (one of mine) was included in the one-vote list or is this a revised result?

I voted for Kazankina's 800m victory from the 1976 Olympics. I mean, how often do you get a world record set in a competitive race? The first four athletes ducked under Valentina Gerassimova's WR of 1:56.0. Incidentally, Gerassimova was tamely eliminated in the SF so it seems Russians, (or Soviets in this case), underperforming in the 800m isn't a recent trend.

The race is on youtube for anyone who hasn't seen it. I like how the first 300m was run in lanes (I believe 1976 was the last time) as it eliminates the chances of a tactical race and Svetlana Styrkina led through 400m in 55.05 from memory. They were still in a bunch off the final bend but Kazankina blazed through from fifth to first in the final 70m to pinch the title. There was an almighty scrap for the minor medals with Anita Weiss, who led with about 50m to go, just missing out.

We all know what happened to Kazankina but silver medallist Nikolina Shtereva went on to have a long career, albeit not at the same level, although she even competed internationally until 1989 at the European Cup. IIRC, Styrkina is still one of the Russian 800m coaches.

I also voted for Yifter's 1980 Olympic double. I have the races on video and I was taken aback by his acceleration and how light on his feet he was. I'm not saying he would have beaten peak Bekele but it would have been interesting to see how he would fared against the recent crop of the past 10-15y.

[mump boy]

Mump - Sonia vs. Szabo (one of mine) was included in the one-vote list or is this a revised result?

I voted for Kazankina's 800m victory from the 1976 Olympics. I mean, how often do you get a world record set in a competitive race? The first four athletes ducked under Valentina Gerassimova's WR of 1:56.0. Incidentally, Gerassimova was tamely eliminated in the SF so it seems Russians, (or Soviets in this case), underperforming in the 800m isn't a recent trend.

The race is on youtube for anyone who hasn't seen it. I like how the first 300m was run in lanes (I believe 1976 was the last time) as it eliminates the chances of a tactical race and Svetlana Styrkina led through 400m in 55.05 from memory. They were still in a bunch off the final bend but Kazankina blazed through from fifth to first in the final 70m to pinch the title. There was an almighty scrap for the minor medals with Anita Weiss, who led with about 50m to go, just missing out.

We all know what happened to Kazankina but silver medallist Nikolina Shtereva went on to have a long career, albeit not at the same level, although she even competed internationally until 1989 at the European Cup. IIRC, Styrkina is still one of the Russian 800m coaches.

I also voted for Yifter's 1980 Olympic double. I have the races on video and I was taken aback by his acceleration and how light on his feet he was. I'm not saying he would have beaten peak Bekele but it would have been interesting to see how he would fared against the recent crop of the past 10-15y.

Deffo 2 votes, i'll delete from 1 vote list

Goes off to watch '76 800m

[donley2]

2 Votes

16 points 77th
Cruz 800m 84
20 points 70th
Ben Johnson DQ 88

I had these two (some overlap with Daisy I see). I loved Cruz's four rounds of front running. Ovett was not at full strength and I believe got stuck in Cruz's heat every single round by bad luck and just totally ran out of gas by the end.

In Ben Johnsons case it was really a "least favorite" as I was a huge Carl Lewis fan. I had traveled to Rome the year before and saw Ben dominate the race in person. I knew Carl had to get a start that was at least competitive (in the neighborhood) with Ben to have a chance. When I saw Ben's start I knew the race was over after about two seconds. I think I threw a pillow at the television.

Mump I think a m4x400 from 04 may have been lost

[gh]

....
I also voted for Yifter's 1980 Olympic double. I have the races on video and I was taken aback by his acceleration...

That's why we called him "Yifter the Shifter" in those days. His gear-change ability was jaw-dropping.

[mump boy]

Mump I think a m4x400 from 04 may have been lost

No, it's back in 1 Vote, 11 points

[Johnners]

[quote="nevetsllim"]Mump - Sonia vs. Szabo (one of mine) was included in the one-vote list or is this a revised result?

I voted for Kazankina's 800m victory from the 1976 Olympics. I mean, how often do you get a world record set in a competitive race? The first four athletes ducked under Valentina Gerassimova's WR of 1:56.0. Incidentally, Gerassimova was tamely eliminated in the SF so it seems Russians, (or Soviets in this case), underperforming in the 800m isn't a recent trend.

The race is on youtube for anyone who hasn't seen it. I like how the first 300m was run in lanes (I believe 1976 was the last time) as it eliminates the chances of a tactical race and Svetlana Styrkina led through 400m in 55.05 from memory. They were still in a bunch off the final bend but Kazankina blazed through from fifth to first in the final 70m to pinch the title. There was an almighty scrap for the minor medals with Anita Weiss, who led with about 50m to go, just missing out.

We all know what happened to Kazankina but silver medallist Nikolina Shtereva went on to have a long career, albeit not at the same level, although she even competed internationally until 1989 at the European Cup. IIRC, Styrkina is still one of the Russian 800m coaches.

quote]

I've just watched it, bizarrely I had not seen it before. What an amazing race. Kazankina was so lithe! It looked like everyone was sprinting from the off. Incredible.

[mump boy]

I could post more 2 votes but a lot of people haven't commented on the last lot yet

[Flumpy]

Sorry. I'll get on it later today.

[nevetsllim]

Yifter and Kazankina were tenth and eleventh respectively on my list btw.

[Olli]

Yifter was in my first sketch for a list, but for some reason I left him out. Perhaps I shouldn't have. Not only was his kick impressive, but he ended the era of Viren and kind of started Africans' dominance in distance running. (I said "kind of" since there had been good Africans before, and since he did not have successors immediately in 1984.) Actually, the reason why I eventually left him out was probably just that for a Finnish kid, the Ethiopians' superiority in 1980 was not strictly speaking a "favorite" moment – a narrow-minded nationalist perspective, to be sure.

[Pego]

I saw Yifter once, at the Bratislava Grand Prix (RIP ) while visiting in June 1980. Most exceptional character in many ways.

[Flumpy]

16 points

77th
Kenteris and Thanou drug bust 04

Only 2 votes. Come on people this was glorious.

Two of the most obvious drug chats in history rumbled just before the Olympic in their own country. Hats of to the IAAF/IOC/WADA or whoever it was that targeted them. I wish they'd do it more often. There were a couple of Gold Medallists at these games that deffo got of scot free.

The fact that they made such a conflama out the whole thing with made up motorbike crashes etc made it even more memorable.

It's just a pity that there were never actually caught with drugs in their system and never properly convicted in the Greek courts.

20 points

70th
w100m '92

Again only 2 votes??? The greatest women's 100m race of all time with 0.06 separating 1st - 5th and The Queen shocking ending up in 5th (3rd we could have understood).

Obviously I'm not much of a fan of the result but nothing can beat the 90's sprint divas and it's only VERY recently that the event has even vaguely been as interesting as it was 20 years ago.

[odelltrclan]

77th
Kenteris and Thanou drug bust 04

Only 2 votes. Come on people this was glorious.

Somehow when you were requesting your lists I had more in my mind favorite "competition" moments. Not moments of infamy. A number of events therefore never even hit my radar screen for consideration.

As per the women's 1992 Women's 100M finals. There are just so many great moments from the years 40+ track events from how many Olympics, that some fade from memories more than others. I remember my shock at the failure of Michael Johnson to advance in the 200 far more than this, but that was certainly not a "favorite" moment.

[gh]

16 points

77th
Kenteris and Thanou drug bust 04

Only 2 votes. Come on people this was glorious.

Two of the most obvious drug chats in history rumbled just before the Olympic in their own country. Hats of to the IAAF/IOC/WADA or whoever it was that targeted them. I wish they'd do it more often. There were a couple of Gold Medallists at these games that deffo got of scot free.

The fact that they made such a conflama out the whole thing with made up motorbike crashes etc made it even more memorable.

It's just a pity that there were never actually caught with drugs in their system and never properly convicted in the Greek courts.

20 points

70th
w100m '92

Again only 2 votes??? The greatest women's 100m race of all time with 0.06 separating 1st - 5th and The Queen shocking ending up in 5th (3rd we could have understood).

Obviously I'm not much of a fan of the result but nothing can beat the 90's sprint divas and it's only VERY recently that the event has even vaguely been as interesting as it was 20 years ago.

If you're going to remain fixated on the seamy side of the sport, at least be fixated about it. You're piling on the Greeks and raving about others who "got off scot free" then in the same breath put Ottey on a pedestal when if he hearing panel hadn't gotten the math wrong two years earlier wouldn't even have been in the meet. Fair is fair.

[Flumpy]

We're not going through this again.

I don't count nandrolone +ives.

[mump boy]

And it's Gary's rule that if you don't get banned your considered innocent

Anyway we're definitely not going down that road again

[mump boy]

So moving swiftly on

21 points

65th

Allyson Felix 200m 12
US 400m sweep 88
Mac Wilkins Discus win 76
Abebe Bikila Marathon victory 64

23 points

64th

Stacey Dragila PV win 2000

24 points

62nd

Ulf Timmerman mSP 88
David Hemery 400mh 68

26 points

61st

Lasse Viren Double Double (includes 1 double and 1 5k which completed the double)

27 points

59th

Ed Moses 400mh win 84
Geb v Tergat 96

29 points

58th

Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz pv win and gesture

30 points

57th Charles Austin HJ 96

31 points

56th

Sally Gunnel 400h 92

38 points

55th Opening ceremony 2000

[Olli]

So moving swiftly on



26 points

61st

Lasse Viren Double Double (includes 1 double and 1 5k which completed the double)

I voted for Viren 1976 5000m, partly for the way it completed his double double (so OK to combine them together), partly for the race itself. The race was as exiting as a race can get and was the ultimate proof of Viren's tactical abilities: able to kick but also able to exhaust the better kickers (Quax and Dixon) by front-running (something Prefontaine had unsuccesfully attempted four years earlier).

I also voted for Bikila 1964, even though I (being born 1964) could not witness it real-time. But his vast superiority, combined with his cool gymnastics show, is still so impressive. (And he was
the first to repeat the marathon victory.)

[odelltrclan]

I was one who voted for Ovett's 800 win in 1980 as one moment. Simply because of the rivalry between Coe and Ovett, and Ovett being the favorite in the 1500 while Coe was a big favorite in the 800. It seemed quite the upset and shock for Ovett to win that race. Equally exciting to me was Coe returning the favor in the 1500 later in the games. Ovett positioned himself for the win, but just couldn't match Coe and lost the race. Those were the biggest names in the middle distances in those days. What a great rivalry!

[Atanvarno]

I was one who voted for Ovett's 800 win in 1980 as one moment. Simply because of the rivalry between Coe and Ovett, and Ovett being the favorite in the 1500 while Coe was a big favorite in the 800. It seemed quite the upset and shock for Ovett to win that race. Equally exciting to me was Coe returning the favor in the 1500 later in the games. Ovett positioned himself for the win, but just couldn't match Coe and lost the race. Those were the biggest names in the middle distances in those days. What a great rivalry!

I had those two moments in my list for exactly the same reasons. Ovett shocking Coe and Coe's impressive comeback in the 1500m (more on that, when it comes up).

[eldanielfire]

I was one who voted for Ovett's 800 win in 1980 as one moment. Simply because of the rivalry between Coe and Ovett, and Ovett being the favorite in the 1500 while Coe was a big favorite in the 800. It seemed quite the upset and shock for Ovett to win that race. Equally exciting to me was Coe returning the favor in the 1500 later in the games. Ovett positioned himself for the win, but just couldn't match Coe and lost the race. Those were the biggest names in the middle distances in those days. What a great rivalry!

I have Coe's in for much the same reason. I'm too young to have been shocked by Ovett's win a sit was already history but can see the mpressive comeback by Coe and that great, great, great image of him crossing the finishing line. That picture sums up everything about what it takes and what it is to win at the Olympics in one go. It is possible the greatest image of any event at the Olympics I've seen.

[gh]

We're not going through this again.

I don't count nandrolone +ives.

Just remember your "we're not going through this again" the next time you decide to throw in a gratuitous drug reference in a thread where it doesn't belong.

[Daisy]

I was one who voted for Ovett's 800 win in 1980 as one moment. Simply because of the rivalry between Coe and Ovett, and Ovett being the favorite in the 1500 while Coe was a big favorite in the 800. It seemed quite the upset and shock for Ovett to win that race. Equally exciting to me was Coe returning the favor in the 1500 later in the games. Ovett positioned himself for the win, but just couldn't match Coe and lost the race. Those were the biggest names in the middle distances in those days. What a great rivalry!

I had those two moments in my list for exactly the same reasons. Ovett shocking Coe and Coe's impressive comeback in the 1500m (more on that, when it comes up).

Uh oh, I had Ovett too, that makes three of us ( think we're still in the two vote category?)

I grew up with their rivalry, and Ovett was the one I preferred. Partly as I had met him at a track meet in Brighton, but also he seemed to have fun running. I don't think anyone expected him to win the 800m, so that a really exciting. At the same time I don't think anyone expected him to lose the 1500m. So I also had Coe's win at the 1500 in my list. I still rate this 1980 version of their rivalry as one of the most anticipated in an Olympic games.

I also had Viren's double, double in my list. 1976 was the time where I first started getting interested in track and field. Those races were packed with amazing athletes so for him to pull it off seemed almost mythical. Even one double was amazing.

[Flumpy]

38 points

55th Opening ceremony 2000

This was my #1. The best opening ceremony of all time, topped off with a torch relay that will never be topped (Certainly not by London's debacle).

The minute Sydney was announced as the Olympic host I'd planning this in my head and there it was in front of me, almost exactly as I would had been done it.

Raelene Boyle to Betty Cuthbert to Dawn Fraser to Shirley Strickland to Shane Gould to Debbie Flintoff King to Cathy.

It makes me cry right from the very beginning........"Ladies and Gentlemen. Celebrating 100 years of women's participation in The Olympic Games, the Olympic flame carried by Betty Cuthbert and Raelene Boyle"

Just watching again now and weeping.

That's how you light an Olympic flame

[mump boy]

Another one that only me and Flumpy voted for

Not only all of the above but Marjorie Jackson carried the Olympic flag.

And then Cathy appears to light flame and the gets stuck half way up and shudders to a halt. Thankfully it started again and let to the 2nd best Olympics ever

[Flumpy]

Has my #3 gone yet?

It would seem odd if it had more then 2 votes

[TN1965]

21 points

66th

Allyson Felix 200m 12
Abebe Bikila Marathon victory 64

61st

Lasse Viren Double Double (includes 1 double and 1 5k which completed the double)

These three should be mine.

Allyson's 200m would have been higher if not for the magnificent run at the Trial. After that, the Olympic final was a bit anti-climactic. It was still a great win after the near miss in 2008. I assume another "Allyson moment" I picked will appear later.

I was not born when Bikila won his second gold. But I have seen that over and over on old film clip so I feel as if I had actually seen it on TV. The way he totally dismantled the entire field, and made it look easy was surreal.

I think the Viren race I picked was 10000m in Munich. The fact he fell during the race and still broke the WR is unbelievable, especially compared to all the "sit and kick" races so common in Olympics and Worlds these days.

[HopStepJump]

Ok, I have a bit of catching up tp do:

13 points
83rd
MLJ Pedroso v Taurima 00

I remember this as much for what happened before the event as the event itself. Tucked in the recesses of my brain before writing this post was that Taurima had said something racially insensitive that pissed off the U.S. long jumpers well before the actual competition. In researching this to refresh my memory for this post, the quote was even worse that I remembered:

"You can pretty much knock off all the dark athletes. We jumped in Salamanca, Spain, a month ago, and those guys just couldn't compete well in bad conditions. It was wet and cold."

I had never heard of Jai Taurima, but I decided after reading about it in the Australian papers that he was a massive prick. I had a ticket for the night of the final. With the home crowd behind him in that monster stadium, Taurima was the perfect scoundrel for me to root against. As it turned out, he jumped out of his skin that night. The drama of the back and forth between Pedroso and him really got the crowd involved, and it was definitely one of the best field events I've ever watched in person. The crowd was absolutely roaring each time Taurima jumped, especially when he took the 5th round lead. Satisfactorily, Pedroso got him in the last round to vanquish his light-skinned opponent and render the quote even more absurd. I read the next day that Taurima went to the pub in the Olympic park that night and celebrated in throwback fashion with his medal among the fans and was even seen to be smoking a cigarette or two. I viewed him less harshly after reading that. It would've still been a great competition without the controversy, but it definitely factored into why this was one of my favorite moments.

[HopStepJump]

16 points

77th
Xiang Liu 2004 win and WR 04

I'm surprised this only received two votes. I remember watching the 2003 Worlds final and I knew Liu Xiang was good, but the race he pulled off in the final was totally unexpected. I think he was pretty damn near perfection on that night. A truly remarkable performance.

[Fortius19]

16 points

77th
Xiang Liu 2004 win and WR 04

I'm surprised this only received two votes.

Eight points of that is mine, so two people had Liu down for lucky 13.

I just love, love, love watching Liu hurdle. I've watched slow-mo replay of him over and over. There is some great footage of him from multiple angles on some Chinese website I lost the link to. As excited as I was for him to win in Athens, I just knew it would be super special when he won four years later in China!

I was really hoping to see (all in shape): DO, Liu and Robles go at it in 2010.
Then last year, I wanted to see: Merritt, Liu and Robles compete in the London final, again, all in good shape to run fast. Oh well.

It would be great to see him run fast again, (he ran 7.49 and 12.87w just last year!), but that would be a lot to ask with his injuries and age.

[bobguild76]

So moving swiftly on

62nd
Ulf Timmerman mSP 88

61st
Lasse Viren Double Double (includes 1 double and 1 5k which completed the double)
27 points

These are mine.

The Timmerman / Barnes last round was beyond amazing. Barnes with the most magnificent clutch put in history ... an OR to put him in front of archrival Timmerman. Only to be followed by Timmerman's most magnificent clutch put in history with a still standing OR.

Not actually sure about Viren's double-double. I listed his Munich 10k, when distance running truly entered the modern age. The best of the best at their peaks. Viren, Gammoudi, Puttemans, Yifter the Shifter, Haro, Shorter, Bedford. Opening lap in 60 sec?! You gotta be kidding! A shocking fall, taking out the defending Champion, but Viren gets back up. A sub-2:30 last K & WR. Wow!!!