Steve Ovett-17 of the Best! (1977-83)

By 1974 in the UK we already knew of Ovett,winning national titles and international medals whilst still a teenager,but assumed he would go the way of all British hopes (Foster,Bedford,etc) come the Olympics...and so it proved in 1976 in Montreal. 1977 was therefore something of a revelation as his ambitions went upwards and outwards,culminating in his remarkable 1500 metres run in the World Cup of that year,absolutely blitzing a world class field. In 1978 he seemed unbeatable (except to the odd chemically enhanced East German) even beating the amazing Henry Rono in a 2 Mile WR. Then came '79 and Coe and things changed,Ovett chasing the clock he'd so easily dismissed up to that point.Afterwards followed two glorious years for them both and world records galore. Maybe it was a good thing that they didn't meet outside the Olympics as 30 years on we're still talking about who was the best !Then Ovett lost an argument with a church railing and was never quite the same force again as new names like Cram and Auoita took over.But after missing most of '82 and following a disappointing '83, the old stride came back at the season's end for one last great WR in Rieti. It was ,sadly,mostly downhill after that.... Was he the greatest miler of all time?Probably not,but he was without a doubt up there and was sure as hell the coolest!

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Steve Ovett
• Sebastian Coe
• 1500mWorld record
• 1980 Olympic Gold Medal
• Henry Rono
• John Walker
• Filbert Bayi
• Thomas Wessinhage
• Steve Scott
• Steve Cram
• Golden Mile
• Dream Mile

[yellcarreon]

thanks for this video! im a die hard fan of ovett! youre the best arrisippy!

[ARRISIPPY]

@yellcarreon Cheers! Unfortunately I think that might well be the last of my Ovett archive...

[deano27671]

What a great compilation! And the quality of the video footage is really clear for most of the races. I wish we had him running at 25 now. He'd still be the man to beat. I have no doubt he'd be beating the likes of Kiprop, Kiplagat, etc.

Thanks for this arrisippy!

[ARRISIPPY]

@deano27671 Glad you liked it Deano! Any chance of a few of those Coe vids soon? I get the feeling we could well go to the grave never having another miler as good as those two,or Cram.Even Peter Elliott would do! Steve

[ecasey93]

@ARRISIPPY  Young James Shane will have something to say about that I reckon!

[ARRISIPPY]

@ecasey93 Fair point,but some way to go!

[athleticscoach2012]

cont...Crams strength was an even longer drive from home. What we would do fo one of them now. Still the girls are doing us proud now!

[athleticscoach2012]

Great compilation. Ovett was unlucky that there was world champs like nowadays as he was unbeatable in 77/78 and that fast goes a bit unnoticed. Even though he set a WR in 83 he was never the same after running into those railing he just didn't quite have the same finish. I've never seen anyone with his sudden change of pace & yes Deano I know Coe finished faster. Coe had the best kick off a very fast pace.

[kev1236543]

growing up he was my idol,waveing to the crowd....brilliant athlete...

[acechadwick]

Oh God I was SO in love with this man! Despite being about to marry I had this overwhelming crush on Steve. He made it look so flippin' easy. You can say what you like but I don't think Coe could hold a candle to him. Coe was always so intense, Ovett so relaxed, he cruised whilst Coe battled. And I know statistics show...blah blah blah,..but I always think Ovett had his tongue firmly in his cheek the whole time. there was tons left in that tank. Legend and always will be my hero.

[crlbertone]

A total brat! Ovett was a graceful runner, poetry in motion, and very cool! I dig his style!

[thenorthfacetrek]

Just pure class.............

[tommytempo1]

Ah, Ovett what an athlete! Great montage. Thanks.

[deano27671]

@giddo007 I will give you though that Ovett, despite the WR in 83, wasn't at his best that year. A peak Ovett from 78-80 would beat a peak Cram from pre 1985 more often than not. But Cram was a different athlete in 85/86. Against that Cram it would be a lot tougher. Maybe 50/50.

[deano27671]

@giddo007 I think you'll find he was fit in both the Moscow 1500 & the 83 World Champs 15, when he got beaten. He should have won the 83 Worlds but ran an awful tactical race (almost as bad as Coe in Moscow 800), but in Moscow he ran the perfect tactical race in his best year but still wasn't going to beat a 12.1 last 100m from Coe. If the 3 ran 10 times over 15 at their peaks, each would win some of them. Over 800, Coe would win 9 out of 10, it just so happened the 10th was the Olympic final!

[houghgree2]

@giddo007 Have to disagree with you on that one. In terms of PBs, achievement and longevity Coe was the superior. A fit Ovett did not beat Coe in the 1500 metres final in Moscow. A fit Ovett did not beat Cram in 1983 over a mile a week after he re-claimed the 1500 metres World Record. This was despite the fact that he tracked Cram every step of the way.