Steve Cram - 1983 World Championships 1500m

Cram wins the gold at the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki, in front of Steve Scott & Said Aouita. Steve Ovett finishes 4th after running a poor tactical race.

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• Cram

[mackapacka]

Ovett was in decline here - in his pomp he would've left cram and the field trailing in the home straight and prob waved to the crowd. he was fastest in field at the time but was mentally and physically dwindling at this point. he is still one of the very greatest but I think he could've been THE greatest or in the top five if not for the injury he suffered - his combination of stamina AND blistering change of pace while running at high speed sets him above cram and along coe in my opinion

[southsea1984]

That opinion is not supported by any statistics.

[mackapacka]

not proof - just evidence to back up an argument (below)

the world cup 1500m final - 1977

the two mile world best v henry rono - 1978

the three year unbeaten streak at mile/1500m

[southsea1984]

There are plenty of statistics that you could use to make a convincing case for Cram, Ovett or Coe as being the greatest of the three runners at their best. The truth is that Ovett's best was 1977-81, Cram's best was 1983-86. Coe's best was between 1979-86 but he had several years of mediocrity during that period. It's really hard to say who was the greatest of the three - they were all awesome at their very best.

[deano27671]

The reason why Coe had 2 years of "mediocrity" is that he was ill with toxoplasmosis and it wasn't properly diagnosed for over a year! 82 & 83 should have been his best 2 years in terms of his age ~25-26. Cram run his best at those ages. For me, Coe never achieved his potential as much as the 2 Steves, yet still had a better record in terms of the Olympics & WR. Despite 2 seasons of mediocrity, he still managed to rank No.1 over 800 in 82 and break 3 WR's (4x800 in 82; indoor 8 & 1k in 83).

[southsea1984]

But you defeat your own argument - he wasn't badly affected by the illness in 1982 - hence the decent record in 1982. He just tightened up in the home straight in his most important race, that was not because of illness. 1983, yes, that year was badly disrupted by injury.

[bootymanager]

Anyone notice the distance winners at this championship are Europeans? The only exceptions are Rob de Castella (a Swiss-Australian) and Mary Decker (Anglo-American). Wulbeck, Cram, Ilg, Coghlan, Cova, de Castella, Kratochvilova, Decker and Waitz. Europeans don't dominate the majors like they once did. Sure, there are exceptions like Mouhrit, Kipketer and Farah, but the Africans dominate everyone in distance running. Cram, Ovett, Deek, Coe, Moorcroft, Cova et al, those days are long gone.

[newromantic888]

@southsea1984 Well said. Now you try telling Deano that.

[deano27671]

@mackapacka I'd certainly put him in the all time top 5 Milers already based on what he actually did. As far as pure middle distance runners (800 & 1500), I think only Coe and Snell can claim better credentials.

[Daz555Daz]

My two penneth? Best 800? Coe. Best 1500/mile? Cram. Running BOTH on the same meet? Ovette.

[smooveXXX]

@mackapacka Fair points. Coe = the great time trialler, Ovett the great racer and Cram the great talent. Easy.

[mrcatohead]

i love it how a slow race is called tactical, its not tactical at all when everyone just jogs and tries to out kick each other, when roger banister ran the 4 minute mile that was a tactical race

[kozmon0t]

This is why I hate championship races. Who cares how many big names are there when they're only gonna run 600 meters?

They're almost always won with a 3:35 or worse. This one 3:41. It's not a race, just a game of musical chairs for the inside lane on the last lap. Steve Scott would have won if he hadn't got stuck in the 2nd lane passing Aouita.

Greatest race ever was John Ngugi in the Seoul 88 5000 when he humiliated the tacticians by taking a 50-meter lead and holding it.

[deano27671]

@ausgang For a start Coe isn't even in this race! As for Aouita, it was his first Championship race and he isn't the athlete here he was to become in the next 2 seasons. The only reason Scott beat Ovett here was because Ovett gave him such a big head start, as he was badly boxed with a lap to go. The year of this race, 83, constituted Scott's best. I'm afraid he didn't have the kick to beat Coe or Ovett at their peak, whatever the pace.