1983 Dream Mile

[@TheIndycoltsfan17]

Scott is my idol. Im reading his book "The Miler." To be honest i didnt know who he was but im glad i found his book. Im going for my school record in the mile and i think reading this book will help me.

[@darrenshaw767]

Donovan Ingle , so 7 years on , tell me, did you get that school record?

[@jamescarpenter6585]

Scott was brash and very jealous of Steve Ovett

[@stevensnodgrass8792]

Coach Scott is a BAMF!!! Great runner, awesome coach, amazing guy!

[@jeffallinson8089]

BAMF??

[@AmberRosario]

Thats my track coach woop woop!!

[@deano27671]

@knightsxc06 The difference is that 3:47 was probably close to Scott's limit. Coe ran only 3 one mile races between 1978 & 1983, all world records, the last one off poor pacing. Scott probably ran more like 33 miles in that same period. Who do you think had more opportunity to run as close to their potential as possible? Scott was eventually faster than Ovett over a Mile, doesn't mean he was better than Ovett at his peak. Both Ovett & Coe were capable of substantially faster than 3:47.

[@SirPeter6464]

Ovett was a class above. The best kicker in the history of middle distance running. If he had risked losing by pushing harder in the middle of a race he could have the record today. He was that good.

[@simonedwards5564]

Imagine(in 1979) Steve scott running this time of 3:49,4 passing 1200m in 2:56( against coes 2:53 in 1979.s golden MILE) and nearly catching COE.s FANTASTIC PERFORMANCE of 1979,s 3:48,95 mile... steve Scott's last 400m here in 53, 8? ovett would have been giving coe more than 3 SECONDS advantage!!!!!!!! Then finishing in this time he would have run DOWN COE clean to a BRILLIANT chase scott WOULD have only been 3/ 4 METRES down 4 years earlier in the GOLDEN MILE 1979 !!!!!!!!!!! After 2:55*8/2:56 at the bell...a CHANGE of pace that many MANY PEOPLE WOULD HAVE SAID IMPOSSIBLE AS THE FINISH TIME OF 3:49,4 WAS A FANTASTIC PERSONAL BEST FOR FRIENDS JOHN WALKER / MIKE BOIT/ CRAM (at that time) and many MANY....other world class milers!!!!! WHAT A DIFFERENCE IN JUST 4YEARSS !!!!!!!!! Same as the 1984 los Angeles 1500m started with the first 800m in1:58/ and COE finished in an immaculate 3:32 !!!!!!!!!!!!! And even though CRAM was recovering from an injury which lowered his chances against coe still ran A BRILLIANT.. BLAZING 3:33 !!!!!!!!!!!!! Ooooooooh yeah coe after a 58.8 400m finished in an 0LYMPIC (lasted 18 years!!!!!!!!!!!) 3:32 record+_: 1500m which means seb COE ran his last 1200m ..after 300m..in about 2:47/2:48 ,...maaaaaaaaaan I REMEMBER coe arriving to 1200m in the same time in that FIASCO 1500M IN STOCKHOLM 1981 DYING AND STILL ACHIEVED A PB 3:31,95 INCREDIBLE...FANTASTIC......NEARLY BUSTED BLISTER OR TWO.....which did burst when he smashed the WORLD RECORD for the KILOMETRE..what??? 3days later? ?????? for F##+ SAKE!!!!!!!!! What ovett / coe and OVETT were made OF took some good old EPO PERFORMANCES ENHANCING SUBSTANCES TO BEAT THEM JUST LIKE LIKE COE,S RECENT UK INDOORS 800M UK RECORD TO BE BEATEN IN THEM ENHANCING TRACK SPIKES AND TRACKS SURFACES.....OK IT WASN'T EPO BUT IF COE OVETT CRAM HAD BEEN AROUND TODAY THEY WOULD'VE SMASHED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@deano27671]

@@simonedwards5564 Love your posts! Spot on.

[@choppy249]

@@SirPeter6464 . I couldn’t agree with you more . I think it was all to do with mind set for Ovett. For many years he was just not interested in running against the clock , he considered it unnatural and not real racing , which it wasn’t . He was a natural racer and that was what he loved best . He only started to try and break records after he got fed up with the press keep going on to him about how many records Coe was going for . I think he thought that seeing as Coe was avoiding him in head to heads ( which he definitely was for a while ) then he ( Ovett ) might as well try and beat some of Coe’s records . But he didn’t particularly like this form of running , he almost considered it pointless , he was never comfortable with it mentally and I think it showed in some of his performances just as you say . I think as you correctly pointed out he would sometimes not push himself to the limit mid race when trying to go for a world record because he thought to himself , if I get it wrong I could even get beat and that is the main point of this race , not the world record . It was a psychological barrier if self imposed I believe and in some ways I think you have to admire him for this . Coe on the other hand didn’t suffer such qualms or inhibitions because he was much more interested in setting records than in pure racing . It is up to every individual of course to decide which type of running you prefer . Myself I tend to favour Ovetts approach to running because I think it is more pure and fairer but that’s just my opinion . Others will disagree . It is a pity though that Ovett couldn’t have snapped out of this mode of thinking perhaps a bit more often because I think if he had of done , as you correctly said he could have smashed the mile and 1500m world records out of sight . Its almost sad to think that an athlete of his outstanding ability and incredible achievements may not have actually fulfilled his true potential . I think there was definitely a lot more left in the tank , untapped .

[@SirPeter6464]

Big respect for Steve Scott. Lived out of a suitcase and ran against the best. Tended to find one-too-good at the world events though. Speaking about Ovett in confident and combative terms was generally a mistake. The press loved it though...

[@luciferdracul7320]

Agree with you, i was an Ovett man personally but i always respected Scott never gave in, never shy'd away from competition & was always there or there abouts, great runner unfortunately for him was around when Ovett & Coe dominated otherwise he would of been the main man for sure.

[@Michael-gu8ck]

I love all these middle distance track videos from the past. Too bad the video quality on almost all of them sucks, no HD, especially on some of the Jim Ryun vids i am interested in.

[@stewartwest347]

Jim Ryun is fab

[@warren09121971]

Steve Scott is the man. The Carl Lewis of the 1500 and mile. Too bad he was boxed-in by the kenyans in the 1988 1500 final.

[@cobramanphil]

Scott was just as good as Coe or Ovett...with Scott wanting to race anyone and Coe and Ovett ducking him in races or anyone that might be on the same level.

[@backintobalance9542]

Coe had 2 Olympics golds 12 world records. Ovett had 1 Olympic gold 5-6 world records and many international titles. Scott had none. Just silver in world championships in 83 behind Cram. Scott was good, but broke no WR or International titles

[@archiewoosung5062]

I seem to remember Scott in lots of races with the Brits, but I don't think I saw him win one

[@darrenshaw767]

Archie Woosung there is a video of him beating Coe on youtube somewhere but I think that's the season Coe had glandular fever.

[@choppy249]

Scott was good but wasn’t in the same league as Ovett and Coe . You would have to be mad ( or his mother ) to think that . As for ducking people , Ovett NEVER ducked anyone in his life . I saw him race Scott countless times and I think I only saw Scott finish ahead of him once . If you had watched all their races live , every one as I used to then you would have heard Scott being interviewed many times saying that anytime he got anywhere near Ovett he was happy . Plus the only person that Coe used to duck was Ovett because he knew he was the only one capable of beating him . He didn’t fear anybody else , he had no reason to .

[@spectrum10]

Why doesn't he tape/tie a rear view mirror to his temple so he doesn't have to keep looking back?

[@martynhanson]

There is no way Scott was in the same class as Ovett or Coe, and Cram for that matter. He was good but no chance in this.

[@chefrobp]

Re comment below...must be pat porter... Xcountry master during that era!

[@jeffallinson8089]

Scott would have got his arse kicked if Coe, Ovett or Cram were present.

[@knightsxc06]

Scott was as fast as Coe: he ran a 3:47 in Oslo in '82... he just didn't produce in championships like the brits. Same Calibre, no hardware. That's the diff.

[@archiewoosung5062]

Don't think Scott beat the Brits in the championships or out of them Did he ever beat Coe or Ovett?

[@LPCLASSICAL]

@@archiewoosung5062 he beat ovett in the 83 world final.

[@LPCLASSICAL]

Scott had 2 really good years in which he ran his best times. 82 and 83 when the 2 brits were off par. Coe was capable of 3.45 in a well paced race. 3.47 was Scotts absolute peak limit. He wasnt is his best form in 84 but Coe was.

[@123Bloodmeat]

@katelynXCforlife thats one of my main reasons im applying to san marcos

[@DoubleAsBaby]

i bet he would of been faster if he quit friggin looking back

[@Y10Q]

thats because at the peak of his career US protested the Olympics at Moscow. If I were him, I would have gone there anyways.

[@snipper1ie]

Didn't Coe go?

[@APBCTechnique]

snipper1ie yep & won 1500m

[@gpc31]

@cobramanphil: Scott was a great runner and a greater competitor, but clearly not "just as good as Coe or Ovett". All you have to do is to compare times, world records, gold medals, head-to-head records, etc. Please--To assert these facts is not to deny Scott's ability or likeability. I'm a fan of Steve Scott: he was a great runner, and by all accounts is a great guy.

[@jimochse18]

Scott enen admitted efhe ran too many races getting plenty of promoter money but could never produce in champs like Olympics or world chams. I am having no if he code to win medals or because my the one that ran the most sib fours he would have chosen the latter .

[@ozzie2612]

big deal ,,,, lets run round a track