1960 Olympic 1500m Final

[@walktall1]

My all time hero!! Fantastic video clips. Thanks. What a race it could have been between Elliot and Snell in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, in which I had the honour in competing in the 1500m final with Snell.

[@andrewheath5948]

Elliott would almost certainty beaten Snel in the 1500.. because he would never allowed Snel to use his last 300 speed after Elliott takes off with 600 to go. Elliott best 1500 times were always better. 800 mtres Snel was better, but that was not Elliot’s interest. Hard to compare, because Snel did two events in 1964, on first Olympic synthetic track..but adding heats in both is hard!! Effort had to be distributed. These two , add , Murray Halburg ( nz) Ralph Dobell...1968.. and Ron Clark. ( Aussies) the two countries dominating middle distance for decade. Imagine if Elliott went past 22 years old running, with today’s tartan tracks and financial support?

[@thGory1]

Extraordinary that his time of 3.35.6 ( and by a young amateur athlete running on an old cinders track ) was fast enough to have won the silver medal in this event at the London Olympics 2012.... 52 years later !!!

[@runcaz7802]

thGory1 Partly because nowadays the finalists in Olympic or WC races rarely go for time. Also world records are almost never attempted unless big $ is offered. There are rare examples (Almaz Ayana 10,000 meter gold and world record, David Rudishas 800 gold and world record. It's special when it happens.

[@michaelwalker2676]

Herb Elliot was unbeaten over the mile and the 1500 meters when he retired in 1962.That alone says how great he was in middle distance.

[@PaulFurber]

In my uncle's first year at Cambridge in 1960, he signed on for the athletics club because he was a good miler. At the first lunch, there was a lot of banter between the new members until someone asked the quiet guy in the corner what he did. He said 'you may have seen the Olympic 1500m on television earlier this year. I won it.' That was Herb.

[@johnmartin7158]

Tnx very much Paul for sharing this post. Quite funny story. I still remember clearly listening to a race Peter Snell ran at Cooks Garden Whanganui. Live audio.I am 64 now. Even recall watching the Great Cardigan Bay winning the Auckland trotting cup live on black and white tv. You will have many memories also of Herb and his great feats etched in your mind. Regards

[@blackdog2994]

Do you mean to say nobody recognized him!?

[@PaulFurber]

@@blackdog2994 Some may have and kept quiet. But this was a different media age: small black and white television sets, small black and white photographs in the paper - very different from the 4k and HD pictures we see today. Ask yourself if, having just watched only this video, you could pick out any of the other participants in real life at the same age. Not so easy.

[@blackdog2994]

@@PaulFurber fair enough

[@Sargebri]

The last time someone broke the world record in the 1500 at the Olympics. Now, most Olympic 1500 meter races are three slow laps with a sprint at the end. The last truly great 1500 was the 1984 race when Sebastian Coe broke Kip Keino's Olympic record that was set in 1968.

[@brianclough]

The first Australian to win the men's 1500m at the Olympics, since the 1st Australian Olympian Edwin Flack did so in the 1st Olympics. Unbeaten and dual record holder, in the then blue riband events in athletics, the 1500m and the mile. A golden era then for Oceanic runners like Landy, Doubell and Snell, who dominated the middle distance events. A super vid, thanks for uploading.

[@barrywilkins884]

Herb Elliott's book, "The Golden Mile", co-written with Alan Trengove, is an invaluable source for ANY aspiring athlete. It gives an inside view to Herb's thoughts on Training, Diet, Tactics and opposition Milers, including Ron Delaney of Ireland, winner of the 1500M Olympic Final in Melbourne in 1956. It was the Russian athlete, Vladimir Kuts, destroyer of Britain's Gordon Pirie and others, who served as inspiration for Elliott. Delaney vrs Elliott in '56; and Snell of New Zealand vrs Elliott in the Tokyo Olympics would have been interesting match-ups. My money would have been on Herb Elliott on both occasions. Apart from being a talented and gifted athlete, he worked hard, and was a real "scrapper". He would not quit!!!

[@djangorheinhardt]

Barry,good post.To my mind Herb was the greatest miler/ 1500 metre runner in history.He would be first among equals today,if he was 22 and running.Strangely he never found it a pleasant experience ,running,as he had to psyche himself up and" hate " the other athletes ,before the race.His arduous ,highly physical training programme,under Percy Cerutty, exhausted him utterly, and he stuck with it every day.He was a one off,and a true boys own hero.He taught the lifes lessons that to achieve anything in life you have to " work til you drop".my words,not his.!.

[@albertattla3601]

Not to mention herb elliott was blessed with natural speed A true talent and I think elliott would have relished a good scrap

[@paulfogartysongs]

Ok. I remember these documentaries were aired alot when I was in school in the late 70s. Bud Greenspan was the producer and maker of the shows. They had lots of them on all sports. I just did a google search and the name of the series was The Olympiad.

[@kindregardless]

Yeah i remember the voice of the narrator, he made it sound riveting.

[@donna25871]

@@kindregardless Bud Greenspan.

[@ivansanders8459]

H.E. - one of the greatest runners of all time. I was inspired by his coach's book 'Be Fit or be Damned.' (Percy Cerutty)

[@runcaz7802]

Ivan Sanders I want to read that.

[@Williamottelucas]

I remember reading that. Cerutty promoted an unusual arm action where you alternate the bent arm position with a straighter position - a bit like train piston action.

[@janet928]

Greatest 1500 runner ever!!!

[@086DEN]

After Eamonn Coughlan

[@BG-id2cv]

​@@086DEN Coughlan was obviously a great athlete, but not over 1500 m. Coughlan never won an Olympics 1500 m medal...4th in 1976,. In fact he never won an Olympic medal ...he won a Gold medal at the 1983 World Champs in the 5,000 m at the age of 31. It is truly amazing that Herb Elliot was NEVER BEATEN over the 1500 m or mile AND he broke the World Record for the mile at age 20 and broke his own World Record for the 1500 m at the Olympics at the age of 22 and then retired! Sorry, but Herb Elliot's record has Coughlan's well and truly covered in regard to the 1500 m or the mile.

[@basilcruncher]

Fantastic old video - and the suspense of why he retired remains...

[@iRunfastXC]

Greatest cliffhanger in modern video.

[@FinnMove]

Herbert Elliot and Michel Jazy were heroes in the 1960´s. Roc Clarke was the third one though he had no success in the Olympics.

[@okina53]

Rózsavölgyi István is Magyarország! 31 éves volt! Édesapám! 3 Fantasztikus Ember!

[@capt.lovestarii2752]

I`m just speculating but this performance by Elliot must have been good for 3:32 on a tartan track , given that he largely front ran 3:35,6 on a semi-soft cinder track.

[@mytime81]

@MrMalcolmoz I have read his biography on Wikipedia, he is a great human being even outside of athletics, he however retired at 24 and not 22 in 1964 according to the information there in.

[@johnlvs2run]

great race, thank you for sharing.

[@rycooder9486]

Mytime81 You didnt mention that 1968 was at high altitude! Keino was hurt by I think an infection. Ryun by recovering from mono and running altitude. But Ryun, Tummler n Norpoth still beat many Africans. Herb, like Ryun and Keino were among the rarest of rare

[@blairansellfraser]

“Why then, did he retire?”....(Herb Elliot ) “It was then, that I”.....(video ends)

[@donna25871]

This was taken from the official documentary film.

[@simonwhittaker9204]

I asked him, he had a family to support - the money wasn’t there in those days. Absolute champion in every way.

[@blairansellfraser]

@@simonwhittaker9204 I knew. I was being a smartass. Incidentally Peter Snell, who won the subsequent Olympic 1500 (& 800) in Tokyo, also retired early… for similar reasons.

[@simonwhittaker9204]

@@blairansellfraser ah, no sweat! Different era wasn’t it!

[@paulwilliams8389]

@@blairansellfraser So true - we shouldn't forget that these were strict amateur days. Had Elliott and Snell had the financial rewards that top class athletes get these days they both would have gone on much longer.

[@luistijerina4032]

Herb Eliot's victory in the 1,000 Meter Run in Rome was exquisite in tactical moves, and showed when great running can be an art. Luis Lazaro Tijerina, Burlington, Vermont, Aug. 22nd, 2012

[@cjh007]

Actually Kip Keino ran 3:34.91 in 1968 and Seb Coe ran 3:32.53 in 1984. It was quality nonetheless since he ran a crazy negative split in this race.

[@HughBarrow1]

spot on he had done all he could and retired at the top he did run cross country for Cambridge Uni v Oxford Uni and in the British Universities Championships

[@peterdelmonte9832]

Seeing the distance by which he beat Jazy here, it’s amazing to think it was Jazy who beat Elliot’s record.

[@StuC5]

I suspect we won't see too many Olympic races like this again, where one athlete so stamps his authority over the other runners, who were no slouches. Compare this with the World Champs 5000m in Osaka, where everyone ran as if scared of their own shadows, nobody prepared to have a real go until the last 400m. Fear of defeat rather than passion for victory.

[@LPCLASSICAL]

Beautiful running style and 2 second margin of victory which I don't think had been exceeded in the 1500M in any major games.

[@gowers1972]

Keino's margin of victory over Ryun in '68 was about the same gap -- almost 3 seconds.

[@MrMalcolmoz]

He ran 3:35 on a cinder track. In 68 they ran 3:34.5 on a tartan track - not much of a storm. Herb Elliot is an all time great. He retired at 22. A time when most were just starting. He wasn't responsible for African colonialism. This was 1960, not 1860 Abibi Bekela had a pretty successful career at about that time. Most of the African runners at that level were paid by the police forces, or the army, so they had a pretty good opportuinity to succeed. The were hardly amateurs.

[@writerjmd]

Look how fast he ran on that cinder track! No cheater shoes no rubber surface.

[@FinnMove]

The olympics in Mexico 1968 were a huge disappointment to Ron Clarke. He had a world record in 5000 metres and 10000 metres. In the "normal" place he could have won both races like a hero. But olympics in 1968 were in a very high place. It was favourable only to the African runners who were used to that kind of conditions.

[@fishtrout9424]

FinnMove He didn't win at either distance at the 1964 Olympics, no kick.

[@lowedi]

How do you explain the success of African runners since 1968.

[@joekavanagh7171]

Gammoudi lived at sea level.

[@leopardboy]

Very interesting. I had never heard about that.

[@HughBarrow1]

Because he had done all he could--less than a year later he went to Cambridge Uni and almost lost in a freshers race to Martin Heath in about 4.16 He ran cross country a few times for Cambridge Uni and then got on with the rest of his life

[@joedrumer9029]

Herb Elliott 👣🙌🏼

[@mvvenkataraman]

I grow never tired watching this running As the performance of all is stunning In fact all the athletes are just planning To reap the gold by gloriously winning Certain ways to win are damn cunning As doping is nothing but badly sinning Though Olympic committee is banning Doping fellows are shamelessly grinning.

[@jayjaygeebee]

great call

[@prrolg]

Why did Herb Elliot retire. We will never know.

[@BayAreaMusicLens]

he did give an interview (that was video'd) in which he explained exactly why he retired, in brief he said the dread/anxiety of going to the starting line made him retire, he said even with WR and Gold, he always suffered mentally going to the starting line. actually it was this interview (at the end) where he explained his retirement. It is on a VHS on the Olympics made by Greenspan where is can be found. My library no longer has it due to not wanting VHS on the shelves anymore, and I am not aware it was ever re-done on DVD. I think it was called 100yrs of Olympic Glory.

[@paulwilliams8389]

@@BayAreaMusicLens Got to remember that athletics was very strictly amateur in those days as well so there was no money to be made out of it. I'm sure if Elliott had been able to run for the sort of prize money that athletes today are lucky enough to compete for he would have carried on.

[@gowers1972]

The narration is done by Bud Greenspan -- or is he the producer of the film?

[@mytime81]

Nothing to do with sophisticated training regime. Ethiopia was not colonised and all the other African countries were under occupation. Colonial masters never gave them a chance to feature. Look at the Olympics of 68 and see how they took it by storm after independence of most countries!!!

[@mytime81]

@MrMalcolmoz I agree with you that Elliot is an all time great. Sophisticated training regimes cannot implant talents. That's part of what I meant. You either have it or not. Elliot had it. Why did he retire at 22??

[@forest69ist]

Had wife and baby and needed to earn a living. If it was like today he could have made a living running and gone to next Olympics. Those days 200 dollars prize money would have you banned from Olympic games

[@daveycard]

@mytime81 yeah true but you can only compete and train against those who are out there. Elliott was the master. Nobody races like this anymore... not even the dominant Africans.

[@thomaselliott573]

you misspelt his name

[@prrolg]

Money was probably the most important factor,right

[@MrMalcolmoz]

he retired in 1961.

[@leopardboy]

I don't think there was much money to be had as amateur athlete in those days.

[@paulwilliams8389]

Absolutely - there was zero money. Even accepting a small amount of money for competing could see you banned for life.

[@musik102]

Stupid commentary. Elliott didn't fear Jazy. Infact, he admitted after the race that he'd never heard of Jazy.

[@MrMalcolmoz]

@mytime81 Wiki is not a great source. Here is the link to his own speaker's bureau resume. google -herb elliott retired - here is is own resume page. from saxton.com.au "Even though Herb Elliott retired at age 22, ......

[@MrMalcolmoz]

@mytime81

[@petermalloy5360]

Peter Snell and John Walker are much better and had huge careers as runners Retired at 22.

[@andrewheath5948]

Snell much better than Elliot at 1500?

[@keirbateman267]

Peter Snell was much quicker over 400 than Elliott. I think I have read in one of Lydiards books that he ran 47 seconds or 47.3 in a race or time trial over that distance. I have also read in one of Cerrutty's books that Herb had difficulty breaking 50 seconds for 400. Snell was a sprinter type middle distance runner and Elliott was ideally suited for the mile/1500m. In the Cardiff Empire Games 800 after a slow first lap Elliott took off just before the bell and ran 50.8 for the second lap catching Brian Hewson, the probable favourite by surprise and hanging on for victory despite Hewson running sub 50 seconds for the second lap! Elliott's will to win has never been equalled and that is a difficult thing to contemplate for 10 years more. He says in the Golden Mile that the thought of continuing training to get under 3 minutes 30 was "an appalling prospect in the middle of an Australian winter". But it was a prospect!

[@paulwilliams8389]

Snell v Elliott both at their peak at 1500m would have been interesting but Elliott was better than Walker.

[@lucasboden]

Were races segregated in 1960? Where are the black runners?

[@nickhanlon9331]

Definitely not. The Africans had yet to get into running. Jesse Owns won 4 gold medals way back in 1936.

[@pckid888]

What the hell are they playing god save the queen for?? He's not british!!

[@nickhanlon9331]

It was our national anthem back then.

[@musik102]

Oh dear! here we have an example of some stupid idiot re-writing history! Adding these " way after the event" commentaries to old footage is ridiculous. Un the commentary, it is stated that, going in to the race, Michel Jazy was the athlete that Elliott feared most. That's interesting, because just after the race ended, Herb was asked what he thought of Jazy. "Who's Jazy?" , Herb asked. Which is not surprising, because until that race, Jazy had never achieved anything outside his native France. Of course, he did go o to be a great champion.