1500m WR,1980 Steve Ovett,Oslo

[@Sanctified57]

Ovett easing up and nonchalantly waving whilst breaking the world record. Absolute legend

[@simonedwards5564]

Equaling the WORLD RECORD (actually 6 HUNDREDTHS BEHIND COE on this occasion)

[@krakhour2]

Cram kicked his butt

[@krakhour2]

Crystal Palace 1983 baby

[@glenmorgan4597]

Worked on track as groundsman from 81 till 2019, remember the great athletics nights, internationals, southern championship, Kent champs, indoor sprints, athletics world cup, great days

[@Sanctified57]

If only he hadn’t eased up, he would have smashed the wr, instead of just equalling it. But for Ovett it was always about purely winning a race

[@Chucklea9]

Brilliant run by a brilliant athlete. He was in his prime here but injury and illness plagued him for the next few years. Never in the shadow of anybody.

[@peterturnball8310]

Steve Ovett was such an entertainer as well as being one of the greatest ever middle distance athletes. He was obviously aware that a world record was on, but he wasn't that bothered because he tore apart a world class field - including Steve Scott, who was totally gone when Ovett flew past him with 200 to go. With Scott previously mouthing off about Ovett avoiding him, Ovett let his running do the talking and made Scott look silly. A wet track with puddles is hardly a help to a world record attempt, and with Ovett taking his foot off the gas in the home straight, that was an incredible run. He could surely have shaved a couple of 10ths off the record had he really gone for it. I was always an Ovett fan in his battle with Coe, but Coe was just as much a legend, and it was fitting that when they met in Moscow in peak condition, it ended one gold medal each. The fact that Coe and Ovett won each other's favoured event is even more evidence of what incredible athletes they were, and how far ahead of the rest of the world they were.

[@rogerrichards8048]

I accept that Steve Ovett struggled with injuries in subsequent years but to my eye, he looked in his absolute prime here. His panache and what you could call arrogance, remind me somewhat of Jacob Ingebritzen today!

[@APBCTechnique]

Ovett was an ACE in the pack waving at the crowd breaking the WR. Amazing only Ovett miss that guy !!

[@TheEulerID]

Ovett was always good at getting in the right place at the right time. He had the physical presence to make that work for him.

[@Grendel2912]

Brilliant run from Ovett, really was the supreme racer.

[@MarkSeeley-o9f]

One of my all time sporting heroes being from Sussex. Broke his county long jump record in 1984 as a claim to fame

[@robertboyle2573]

Ovett and Coe were the best ever in my opinion.

[@lanagorgeous9485]

I would put Coe and Hicham El Guerrouj as very close if they were both in their primes and Ovett a step back with the likes of Noureddine Morceli and Noah Ngeny. Let's throw in Jim Ryun if he had all the advantages of the modern athlete. But beware this 18 year old kid from Norway, Jakob Ingebrigtsen may someday be better than all of them :)

[@MarkSeeley-o9f]

Cram was every bit their equal. All 3 wonderful athletes but Thompson was the greatest. Unbeatable for 9 years during an intense era full of talent

[@martinhill9261]

What a class runner Steve was and what a time it was for middle distance running.

[@agardad386]

Ah, the good old days with Ovett, Wessinhage, Walker and Scott. Legends

[@QMTimeisnotreal]

I remember Wessinhage saying afterwards that he could not believe how fast Ovett moved away from him even though at that point he was running flat out.

[@jamjar47]

England had the BEST 3 Middle Distance runners in this era and will NEVER be equalled ! OVETT COE and CRAM ruled the 800m and 1500m most countries have 1 world beater ,but England had 3 who each broke world records for fun ! Just glad when i was a runner and lived through this era i watched history being made :)

[@martydav9475]

The Djokovic, Nadal and Federer of athletics.

[@andrewdeacon8315]

This was the last year records were ratified to tenths rather than hundredths hence officially it equaled Coes record despite being 6/100ths slower.

[@josephharley9448]

Great runner and nice bloke

[@DingKong]

Ovett and Coe - the absolute best for a number of years. If Ovett hadn't suffered that railing injury to his knee - how much more could he have achieved? Couple these two with others such as Steve Cram, Tom McKean and a bit later on, Peter Elliot - the UK had some classy runners.

[@simonsedwards1513]

These were the day's when Kenya could not compete!!!! "" wilson waigwa finishing nowhere here and no time given!!!! That's how far ahead coe and ovett were!!!!

[@tommytempo1]

This was a race rather than a paced run. Scott was trying to burn off Ovett, not be his pacemaker!

[@Grendel2912]

there was no way Scott would have paced Ovett, he hated him.

[@choppy249]

@@Grendel2912 . I think Scott just hated the fact that there were two Englishmen and later a third who were way , way better than he was . It galled him .

[@paulgraham6316]

Scott: "I'll run the legs off Ovett." Is that how you do it, Steve?

[@gareth3d]

The track looked soaked. Surely that cost a second or two?

[@athleticscoach2012]

Good point it definitely makes the going feel heavy & slows you down a bit. You rarely see a record on a wet track

[@simonedwards5564]

@@athleticscoach2012 DEFINITELY!!!!!!! NO WONDER COE SHIT HIMSELF IN THE 800M IN MOSCOW WATCHING OVETT THROW AWAY THE RECORD WAVING TO THE CROWD!!!!!!!! LAST TIME ANY BODY DID THAT WAS BOLT IN THE 2008 OLYMPICS 100M!!!!!!!!

[@deano27671]

Great run by Ovett. He always seemed to have a bit more support with the pacing in his 1500 world record attempts than Coe did. Here he has Scott pacing him up to 200m to go, whereas Coe's 2 main attempts had him all alone by 700m. Perhaps Andy Norman had some influence over that!

[@deano27671]

BFC I recognise the greatness of Ovett and I wasn’t belittling his effort. Ovett was clearly capable of below 3:30 in this race. I was merely pointing out that Ovett had better pacing in his world record attempts than Coe. If you compare this to Coe’s 3:32.03, it’s not surprising that Ovett looked so much easier at the end; he had more even pacing than Coe (whose first 2 laps were 54 and then 59, compared to 57,56 for Ovett) and Coe ran the last 800m solo, whereas Ovett was in a race and had company up to the last 200m. Both were capable of significantly under 3:30 as far back as 1979.

[@deano27671]

@@bfc3057 Ovett was paced/drafted until the last 220m in this race. In both Coe's 2nd and 3rd mile WR's, he went to the front with 600m to go. That's a big difference. Likewise, Ovett had about 500m to run from front in his 2nd mile WR. Coe was paced to 400m in his 2nd 800m WR, he tried passing Konchellah at the bell and ran about 50m wide to get past him, which was a hindrance rather than a help, and probably cost him 0.2sec. I'm not saying that Ovett wasn't great and he had some dire pacing too, I was just comparing their 2 3:32.1 efforts.

[@batumalairajakumar3450]

@@deano27671 mate I am not sure if you are aware but Ovett is literally waving down the homestraight, yes he may have had better pacing but he definitely was capable of running faster on this day. We both know that once he broke Sebbie Coe's record later in the season in Koblez, Sebbie Coe never had his name in the record books for the 1500m ever again despite trying numerous times, with dire pacing in most attempts. If anything Sebbie Coe is fortunte Ovett did not go hard for a world record in 77 78 or the earlier part of 79, if Ovett had run his 3.31.36 before Coe's 1500m record in Zurich 79, Coe might never have broken the 1500m record, not even once. Sebbie Coe only ran below 3.32 twice in his whole career as opposed to 4 times for ovett, with one time being 3.31.95 and the other being his famous 3.29 in Rieti in 86. I honestly think Ovett could have easily run faster than 3.31.95 in 77 78 79, and if he had done so, and assuming Coe continued to race 1/2 1500m per season as usual in 79 80 81, I think it's fair to say Coe may well have had won 2 1500m Olympic gold medals but broken zero 1500m world record if this had been the case. Coe's only 1500m record was by 0.1 in 79, so he should be thankful he got that record. Because if he had not he never would have have had all 4 of the 800 1000 1500 and mile records at the same time. Even though he did get all 4 records for a short period of time, I think it's fair to say that Ovett could have spoiled the party if his mile race in Oslo 1980 was scheduled before Coe's 1000m on the same day. In that case Ovett would have denied Coe history. I guess in a sense Coe was a lucky little bugger at times, but an unlucky bugger as well as admitedly had some crap pacing, especially by Robinson who was a really bad pacer. Lastly, while Coe was an unlucky bugger at times, do you by any chance...... have a bug up your arse?

[@glywnniswells9480]

Ovette is the best specimen for 1500m ive ever seen. Pitty he smashed his knee into a n iron fence😅

[@Grendel2912]

I bet Steve Scott wished he had kept his mouth shut.

[@LPCLASSICAL]

Scott was always claiming he would do this or that. From 77 to 82 he lost every race to either Coe or Ovett. It was only in 83 he finally beat an off par Coe and later in his career beat Ovett when the latter was way past his best. But his big moment in LA he had no answer to Coe at his best or Cram.

[@SirPeter6464]

Credit to Scott, thought he might find something against the greats but sadly couldn't. Still a world class athlete and a competitor at the highest level.

[@colinlawless5654]

Ovett is the best runner ever.

[@LPCLASSICAL]

If Scott had been stronger on that last lap Ovett could have run 3.30. Ovett though could have taken off like Cram did in Nice but he always left his kick late.

[@SirPeter6464]

Really a sprinter at heart. Did things in training that were surreal. Just run reps talking and joking. Things not seen before or since.

[@simonedwards5564]

@@SirPeter6464 LIKE WAVING TO THE CROWD WITH 70 METERS TO RUN AND EQUALING SEBS RECORD...NO WONDER HE PUT A SPELL ON THE FIELD FOR THE 800M MOSCOW FINAL 41 YEARS LATER STILL THE FASTEST LAST 4OOM IN OLYMPICS HISTORY (50,6)_41 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!! EVEN MORE AMAZING OVETTS FIRST WORLD RECORD 2MILES IN 1978 APART FROM MO FARAH WHO WASN'T BORN IN ENGLAND IS STILL THE REAL UK RECORD....43 YEARS LATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 43 YEARS LATER MAN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT !!!!!!!!! EVEN MOORCROFT IN THE YEAR HE RAN 13:00,42 FOR 5000M DID NOT BEAT OVETTS 2MILES!!!!!!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???

[@bobpenny8011]

Ovett was accused of botching the record attempt in this race by waving on the homestretch. In his great rivalry with Coe only tying the record was viewed by Ovett as an embarrassment. But then he did the same thing the following week in a 5k against John Treacy and Billy McChesney at the Crystal Palace, and while Ovett was waving Treacy nipped him at the line.

[@peterh1353]

He always claimed he was waving to his father - even though he wasn't there!

[@alannorman1682]

Absolute 💯 solid gold 👌 ✨️ 👏 🙌 ❤❤

[@freestyle9368]

His wave was for Sebby

[@lanagorgeous9485]

His cocky wave cost him breaking the record and later Seb beat him in the 1500 meters and s a few years later his career went downhill.

[@jeremyhomewood9573]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAng on a minute !!!!!!! He and two others smashed Coe,s 1500 m record at the end of 1980 !!!!! A mile world record in1981 then OVETT ⭐ ran another 1500 world record in1983 (3:30,7) cocky ????? Yeah he was cocky alright but could back it up by running world records whilst waving to the world just like he did when beating Henry rono 1978 over two miles in a world record (8:13,?) Rono had run world records in the 3000 500 10,000 3000 steeplechase !!!!!!! Along comes OVETT the 800 1500 man,,,, not only does OVETT beat the multi world record holder he 🌊 waves to the crowd !!!!!! Watch the world cup 1500 from 1977 beating the OLYMPIC champ john walker cocky yes but he made up for it,I just wish he was watching where he was going when he ran into those church railings and seriously fucked up his knee COZ he was NEVER the same again end of 1981 !!!!!!! But still came back and smashed Sydney mariee,s world record in 1983 !!!!!!! And I wish we had some one like him now running 3:43 miles and 3:26'00 1500m and waving to the crowd pissing all over these EPO induced times which nobody has come remotely near in 20 years !!!!!!!!!!! STEVE OVETT ⭐⭐⭐ 👑👑👑💥 FANTASTIC LEGEND!!!!!! Miss YA !!!!!!!!!!

[@siypic]

He was badly injured in 83 on a training run in Brighton.......... by that time he had been at the top of te tree since 77......... @@lanagorgeous9485

[@davidbaldwin133]

@@lanagorgeous9485 ovett was the greatest, this race is a good example. Coe was clockwork.

[@choppy249]

@@lanagorgeous9485 . You don’t know much do you ?

[@Costa_del_Artlepool]

It's like an alternate universe with the single black at the back.

[@modoc97405]

Wouldn’t even place in most international meets today

[@StevenBradley-x6y]

Scott put in his place. Was always mouthing off about ovett

[@ry4n1234]

That wave to the crowd at the end of the race, probably cost him the world record.

[@Robertterrado-l8q]

Steve Ovett was a magnificent athlete but he was arrogant with it when Cram came along Ovett was finished no more waving to the crowd in the last 50 metres

[@siypic]

A great time for middle distance............ Graham Williamson came through with Cram.... he never did quite fulfill his promise.... never did know what happened to him

[@WithBACON]

What were the splits here (last 200, 400, etc.)?

[@AthletixStuffChannel]

Figures I've got here are 58.0/55.8/56.5/41.8,with a last lap of 56.1...Ovett looked pretty relaxed,shown by his last 100m in 14.2...guess he knew it was over and time for a wave by then....

[@egdowney1]

Round it up 🤔

[@mauroribeiro5262]

👏👏👏

[@joemcm1]

scott was a class athlete,i think he just thought wtf is that....ovett from a different stratosphere

[@petelavin3561]

ovett very add the balls to wave to the crowd fuckin brilliant

[@lanagorgeous9485]

Steve Scott had all the talent in the world but his racing tactics in big races like the Olympics sucked. His greatest race was his silver medal in the 1983 1500 meters world championship, but as usual, he failed one year later and he ran the same stupid race that he ran here. Compared to Centro, who is awesome at Olympic level tactics.

[@SirPeter6464]

He hadn't the talent or kick to get up with the greats. But he was really good. Could have been his day, a bad meal or a bad night's sleep or a trip/spike and it might have been a different story. I mean it wasn't totally out of the question winning here. Hindsight might make it seem so.

[@bobpenny8011]

Five weeks later Ovett made amends for just tying the record. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqWQYnSoqM6opLs