Atlanta Olympics 1996 men's 800m Final

[ulfthom]

one white man

[ulfthom]

rodal a winner, not many of them, but we have a few in norway

[ulfthom]

what a fast finish, olympic record! this was outclassing from an outsider!

[bijection765]

I tell you something.

That australian commentator makes athletics even better than it is, he describes the excitement in a way never done before! what a fucking legend!

[mrcatohead]

@bijection765 Bruce Mcevoy, he commentates every sport in australia, he could commentate paint drying and make it sound exciting

[rrampaer]

Incredible race from Rodal he earned it the hard way ! too bad for kipketer duh

[ulfthom]

im not sure kipketer would match this at the big final day

[runforafriend]

this is the biggest sensation in norvegian sport history from my point of view.

[FranchiseIndustries]

@kolsto94

nah, he is just stunned that he managed second place. If you look at a lap earlier, he was dead last with 350m to go. Vebjørn being second last shows that running sub 50 on the first lap is not the way to go.

For an even more exagerated scenario, watch the 1972 olympics. Havent seen anything more epic.

[nebukanezer73]

Probably the best Norwegain sports result of all time.

[phantomofthedrivein]

is this in the u.s?

[Gjestrumen]

It is beutiful watch a norwigen guy run away from a bunch of black people <33

[erikkire94]

Dette løpet er det mest imponerende i norsk friidretts historie.

[bootymanager]

@erikkire94 Hva om skytinger ytelsen til Anders Behring-Breivik? Ganske imponerende, nei?

[Fletcher689908]

A legendary sporting moment for a small country. Thanks for posting this!

[spatzlelg]

@bootymanager Still went out in 49.55 and had a slight stumble at the start.

[jimmyg141]

god i feel bad for tellez. poor bastard, u run 1.42.85 and not get a medal. Im just glad he got a silver behind kipketer in 97 world champs in athens. Too good of an athlete not to get a medal at a major title.

[xedvux]

I know a lot of people say Rodal won because Kipketer wasn't running but you have to give credit when credit is due.

Perfect run from Rodal. Bravo!

[cegtown]

@xedvux Who knows what happens in a championship setting. After heats , semis and finals the favorite is no shoe-in winner. You are correct-credit to Rodal. I was at this race. It was one of the best if not the best at the Games.

[dchartier1]

@MrWakethesheeple I agree that such a runner would probably be NECESSARY to BREAK 1:40. Trouble is, pretty much ANYONE with SUB-45.0 quarter speed is going to FOCUS on the QUARTER rather than the HALF, even though he COULD be BETTER at the HALF. We'll just have to WAIT for a good COACH to talk some SENSE into such a runner.

WARINER would be JUST SUCH A GUY. He's got the DISTANCE RUNNER rather than SPRINTER build, and mid-43 QUARTER SPEED. I see a 1:39 in HIM. But he'll NEVER do it...

[ejnar95]

@dchartier1

hes not such fast as his father, but his run-style is very similar! :D

[cegtown]

@dchartier1 Agreed. No sprinter wants to train for this event. Its the shortest discipline not run in lanes the whole distance around the track. It takes speed, endurance, and race tactics to win the 800m. The 400m is in lanes and pretty much you against the clock (yes, I know, it does take speed, endurance and race tactics as well, but you don't get boxed-in during the 400) The 800 is a "real" race against other athletes.

[ejnar95]

I am friend to his son :)

[dchartier1]

@ejnar95 How FAST is his SON?

[brendanmaz]

Sepeng could have won this race had he judged it right. He left it way too late

[Raimakusa]

1:44? At thirty-six years of age? My goodness.

[koolkurd82]

past his prime ,he was young at this time ....maybe in the 2004 he was past it

[cegtown]

Geez!!! The camera misses a huge move by Rodal on the backstrech.

[koolkurd82]

too bad kipketer was in this race ,he was the one number in the world at this time ....but hewanted to run for denmark...but kenya wouldnt let him .

[dal4018]

@koolkurd82 Kenya felt Kipketer was well past his prime too bad Uncle Sam(USA) didn't pick him up as a free agent would have been worth it.

[spatzlelg]

@dal4018 What actually happened was Kipketer went to Denmark to study in 1990 and unlike say Norway or Sweden, where he would have been eligible to become a citizen after 5 years. In Denmark it was 7 years, so they needed Kenyan permission to release him as the Danes wouldn't fast track the citizen application. Kenya said no, therefore no Kipketer in this race.

[dal4018]

@spatzlelg Okay thanks the Kenyans why wouldn't release him?

[frognerbadet]

@koolkurd82 Vebjørn Rodal's 1.42.59 in 1996 was faster than Kipketer had ever run up til then. Rodal also had the fastest time in 1996 prior to OL.

[john130781]

yes bruva tru talk Johnny Gray living Don - set the pace all over the world - if u need a world record holla at johnny Gray living Don

[dchartier1]

Now THAT'S how your run the HALF, and it's ALL thanks to my MAN Johnny Gray! Gray goes BALLS OUT from the GUN and leaves NOTHING on the track at the FINISH LINE! So much better than these CHICKEN SH*T racers like Andrew Wheating we're STUCK WITH these days! Too bad Gray couldn't win another medal like in '92, but STILL, he showed the GUTS and DETERMINATION of a CHAMPION. We won't see the LIKES OF HIM for a while given the "talent" in America THESE DAYS...

[trickygoose2]

@dchartier1

Johnny Gray was a great athlete with an amazing number of fast times. When it came to championships he was great for the neutral as he always ensured a fast pace if there wasn't someone like Barbosa or one of the Kenyans setting one. I was quite pleased that he managed to get that one bronze medal in Barcelona but it is not a great return for an athlete of his calibre.

[dchartier1]

@trickygoose2 I concur. With his SPEED and GUTS, he definitely had a SUB-1:42 in him, maybe even a SUB-1:41. He just NEVER really made it all COME TOGETHER in the big championships.

I'm really HOPING I see a sub-1:40 in my lifetime. It's sad that in just 30 YEARS the WR has dropped ONLY about 0.7 seconds. But I DEFINITELY think that a 1:39 is POSSIBLE. I think if we could just get a runner with 44-second 400 relay SPEED who can BUILD low-3:50 mile STAMINA., a 1:39 is WITIHN REACH.

[dchartier1]

@trickygoose2 Trouble is, runners with THAT KIND OF TALENT in EITHER EVENT tend to focus ONLY on the 400 or 1500. Some say that Earl Jones had the TALENT to go 1:39. He ran his first lap in 49 EASY. But 1:43 ended up being his LIMIT.

I have the UTMOST respect for RUDISHA, but I think he's UNLIKELY to go sub-1:40. He has the SPEED, but I'm not CONVINCED that he has the STRENGTH. But it's good to have another true MIDDLE DISTANCE SPECIALIST like Kipketer! But I expect EXCITING THINGS!

[cegtown]

@dchartier1 I'm not being racist but honest when I say that no Black American 800m runner (like Earl Jones)will ever hold the 800m WR, and its no ones fault but the American training philosophy. American training lies too heavily on speed training alone (especially for speed- talented 800m runners). I doubt and feel confident in saying that neither Earl Jones nor Johnny Gray ever exceeded 30-40 miles training in a week. The rest of the World, including Coe, ran/runs much more mileage.

[jamescounty]

@cegtown what about andrew wheating?

[cegtown]

@jamescounty Wheating trained under the Oregon program which runs more than 30-40 miles a week I assure you. Wheating is a World class runner but not yet World elite class. maybe soon.

[jamescounty]

@cegtown "American training lies too heavily on speed training alone" Thats exactly what I am saying with Andrew, not everyone does too much speed training. Wheating will hopefully become a world elite class runner. His improvements are fantastic.

[cegtown]

@jamescounty we are in agreement. he seems like a good kid and id like to see him do well. great potential. good basic speed. good runners' build. hope he stays at it.

[jimmyg141]

@cegtown i wouldnt necessarily say that it relies too much on speed training. When i went to college in the states, I was given way too much volume. i was a 400m runner moving up, and all the volume killed my speed. It wasnt until i moved back home to my country that i started to get my speed back and in one season i went from 1:48 to 1:46, and getting that speed back was the key. So to say the american way is too speed based isnt necessarily true.

[jonnycomehome]

I remember this moment - huge moment in Norwegian sports. Maybe THE biggest?

[mamowolde]

woah...1976 800m final wasnt even a race.It was a slaughter.. Juantorena was like a Usain Bolt for middle distance..

[ulfthom]

@mamowolde yes but juantorena would have had big problems with rodal

[GOATAli]

Possibly the toughest and most exciting track distance there is. It is a 90

percent sprint for two laps, unreal.

[KingLiopleurodon]

The best Olympic 800 since the 1976 classic. Rodal ran an altogether brilliant race, perhaps the perfect tactical 800. He kept a cool head at all times, he was perfectly placed, and made a decisive kick at exactly the right time.  But almost everybody ran to maximize their performance; Gray did what he needed to. Tellez was unfortunate. Sepeng may have regretted leaving everything quite so late but it seems he was surprised by his own finishing powers. Who wouldn't, with a 1:42.7PR in the OG

[mc1703]

@KingLiopleurodon Rodal ran the best tactical race no doubt. IMO Sepeng was in the best shape for this race. I estimate Sepeng ran an extra 3m in the last 150m, and if he had got his tactics right would have possibly gone 1:42.20-1:42:35.

This race just re-enforces my respect for Johnny Gray!

[M3anDAD]

imagine what this epic race would have been like if Kipketer

[mc1703]

if someone had told tellez he would go to atlanta and run 1:42.85 for fourth...

[spatzlelg]

@mc1703 He'd feel like shit running such a time which would get him gold in most other Olympic finals.

[sabobber]

Vebjørn Rodal is the greatest, can't believe he's my trainer!

[tofuzbasketman]

go rodal!

[papmjny]

whole norwegian Athletics wonder came suddenly up 1992 and disappeared 1998 for good. They talked about blood laboratory...

[bjarnester]

@papmjny Bollocks. The Norwegian atheletics "wonder" consisted of 1 guy in sprint, Rodal (800 m), Hattestad in javelin and Steinar Hoen doing high jump. With Norway winning in such diverse disciplines; are you seriously suggesting they invented a "magic" pill that made you best at everything or could it be they had a lot of good athletes these years?

[ulfthom]

@papmjny what do u talk about?

[InsaneGoonRules]

Sepang = Even bigger moron.

[mrlogic4u]

Gray = Moron

[Sdelosinfiernos]

Rodal is a inspiration to Run...

[ramonegustavo2]

Joaquim Cruz The Best!!

[ellos94]

I just love how you can feel the adrenaline cick. Makes me proud to be norwegian

[SawViking]

just love these kinds of races where the unexpected happens. gotta love being norwegian at these times.

[dchartier1]

Gray was a REAL middle distance runner! He takes it out BALLS TO THE WALL straight from the gun and tries to leave NOTHING on the track! That's the kind of GUTS and HEART that the U.S. NEEDS to gain some RESPECT in the half-mile today!

Compare that to the CHICKEN SH*T racing of Andrew Wheating, who WOULDN'T take out a race hard IF HIS LIFE DEPENDED ON IT! And that's why Gray will be REMEMBERED and Wheating will SOON BE FORGOTTEN!

[tamkiller]

he got own :P

[JohnnyTabouli]

I didn't care about Gray winning, loved it when he took out the pace in major champs.

[spatzlelg]

Bring back Johnny Gray, he loved taking the race out quickly.

No problem putting this on youtube, it needed to be here.

[redwinger219]

Hell yeah, no bullshit "tactical" race with Johnny in the mix. He kept it honest, and you had better bring it. If all championship finals were run like that, the sport would be better off.

[dal4018]

@redwinger219 Remember the '07 World Championship Outdoor final when the first 400 WAS A HIGH SCHOOL LIKE TIME OF 55!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE WINNING TIME WAS 1:47 I BELIEVE NO WAY SHOIULD A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RACE BE THAT SLOW IT WAS BEYOND EMBARRASING!!!!!!!!!

[cegtown]

@redwinger219 There is a Johnny Gray in races other than Championship races. He's called the rabbit.

[Inc4ns]

Agreed. If Gray were still there, we wouldn't have...what 51 seconds as the first 400m? I'd prefer Gray back as well.

[dal4018]

@spatzlelg Hey do you have footage of the '08 men's 800m final??????

[spatzlelg]

@dal4018 No, I don't have it.

[dal4018]

@spatzlelg RATS RATS MORE RATS THANKS ANYWAY SIR

[nassim21]

very fast run

[Tjernvoll]

hainn spreng kjapt som vi sei i Trøndelag!

[sessionmessiah]

What a race and what a victory for Rodal !

[TorstenBM]

Great quality! Thx so much for puting this vid on youtube!