1986 European Athletics Championship Men's 800m final

1986 European Athletics Championship Men's 800 metres final in Stuttgart. Finalists:
Peter Braun (FRG)
Sebastian Coe (GBR)
Phillipe Collard (FRA)
Steve Cram (GBR)
Rob Druppers (NED)
Viktor Kalinkin (URS)
Tom McKean (GBR)
Ryszard Ostrowski (POL) .

[@gringo19860]

"Like three spitfires coming out of the sun". Beautiful 😊

[@deangarratt4965]

Coe … best British middle distance runner of all time.

[@darren2514fv]

The stadium in Stuttgart that was used for the 1986 European Athletics Championships was also used in the 1974 and 2006 World Cups and 1988 European Football Championships

[@simonwoods8809]

...and the 1993 World Champs too. I have fond memories of all of those events.

[@ewaf88]

Seb's time is better than most UK 800m times today

[@lastschicker]

"like three Spitfires coming out of the sun"

[@djc0108]

Incredible run by Coe considering how far he ran on the outside.

[@68munki]

1,2,3.. incredible

[@KryptonitetoallBS]

If you were showing young up and coming 800 metre runners what not to do you could do a lot worse than showing them exactly what Coe did for 700 of the 800 metres. If he wasn't head and shoulders better than the rest he would have had no chance!!!

[@Ruda-n4h]

@@Always_ponder Coe was actually in the same position as in Moscow 1980.

[@robertford5228]

But isn't that the point - he was head and shoulders better than the rest because he knew his strengths so tactically he was very sound. There are no absolute rules about tactics; you employ those tactics that suit you as a runner - taking into consideration your knowledge of your opponents strengths and weaknesses. As a coach, back in the day, I would be suggesting to my charge different tactics that were dependent on how he/she felt on the day and the strengths of the rest of the field.

[@KryptonitetoallBS]

@@robertford5228 Sure but you also want to run your own race and not be dictated to by others. Great runners dictate to others. In a 2 lap race the last thing you want to do is always be in lane 2, 3 or 4 especially on the bends. Coe ended up running much further than anyone else in this race. To watch exactly how the last 800 of a race should be run just watch Coe when he won the 1500 metre Olympic Final in 1984. He didn't allow anyone to bully him. He was almost always in the perfect position and destroyed the field!! Sure he won this 800 metres but he made much harder work of it than a runner of his ability should have done.

[@bakersteven3]

At 200m, 3 of the last 4 are the medal winners, sub 25 for the first 200m shows that even pacing works.

[@chrismorgan9460]

Coe is in my opinion the best middle distance runner male or female that we Brits have ever had, and we've had a few good one's lol

[@seasideunderinvestigation6211]

No, Steve Ovett.

[@chrismorgan9460]

Ovett was brilliant but just pipped by the sheer grace of coe in my humble opinion, but i loved Ovett as well. Great times watching both these legends

[@Ruda-n4h]

@@chrismorgan9460 I think Ovett actually has by my reckoning more gold medals in total than Coe but that doesn't always mean everything. Coe was the better 800m runner but I think Ovett was more versatile although I don't think we saw the limit of his ability. He must be the only Olympic 800m champion to win a major title at 5000m and if he could break the world record at 1500m in 1983 in 3.30.77 when passed his best he should have been able to run 3.29 around 1981. After his railings accident he was never quite the same again.

[@siypic]

@@Ruda-n4h Yes those bloody railings......

[@keithf_]

Tom McKean was a great championship 800 metre runner. Peter Elliott too was able to peak time and again at major championships. Great though they were, they were always very slightly in the shadow of Ovett, Coe & Cram. But with those famous five, what a glorious era in British middle distance running.

[@timrobinson100]

Nice one seb

[@mandykhoo2473]

Great daus

[@villageintheshire]

Seb ... I don't think he had a tactical brain ... every championship race he ran he seemed to loose concentration and ended up expending energy unnecessarily. Exception being his two 1500mts titles so it wasn't all bad

[@robertford5228]

And yet won - the notable exception being the Moscow 800. It would suggest that perhaps he had a pretty spot on tactical brain - a runner who knew his capabilities and his strengths; holding the middle of the pack and coming through over the last 150 metres and winning seemed to be a tactic that worked. I would whole heartedly agree with you had he lost a lot more than he won, but he was a winner through and through.

[@KryptonitetoallBS]

@@robertford5228 It's all ifs and buts but If he'd only controlled the 1980 Olympic 800 metre final from the front, no-one could have passed him.

[@terrydickinson3296]

Cracking race bad tactics or not .

[@jeffallinson8089]

Cram in 85 was almost unbeatable.

[@luispastor8089]

Horrible race tactic, shows how superior he was