1988 Olympics - Men's 4x400 Meter Relay

[@geaux-hard]

I remember this race. I was 16 years old and recorded it on our VCR. Lol!! I wore that damn tape out watching the sprints and jumps. I was in love with track and field.

[@verawallace9055]

Same never gets tired of watching, always wonder what the Runners are thinking

[@WISHBONEL7]

Who do you think were the greatest male sprinters and middle distance runners , especially when factoring in the shoes , training methods, ETC ?. You are a little younger than me , yet have you ever heard of Cliff Branch of the Oakland Raiders , it was said that he had 9.2 100 yard speed !!.

[@666zerowolf]

Butch R.....what a perfect stride...he keeps pushing with his arms right to the tape!...43.12 leg!

[@aleksthegreat4130]

Remember this as it was yesterday,one of the best and equally composed USA team ever,won all the medals in individual

[@fatbelly27]

6:58 the commentator actually asks 'who finished second and third?' Er, it was Jamaica and West Germany

[@angusielts7.00]

Typical Merikun athletics coverage. Camera and commentators focussed only on Merikuns.

[@teller1290]

East Germany, probably. They had the best drugs.

[@fatbelly27]

@@teller1290 The evidence is that North America had the best drugs

[@teller1290]

@@fatbelly27 sporadically, mainly among a few strength guys over the years. I'm taking about generations of state-mandated drugs even when poor, puppet athletes (we have learned since '90) took the steady juice or back to the $1 an hr factory.

[@richardlovell7316]

So much fun to watch these races...

[@aressantino2382]

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[@raphaeldean579]

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[@aressantino2382]

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[@raphaeldean579]

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[@simonwoods8809]

You wouldn't know that seven other nations actually made up this final...

[@teller1290]

It mentioned the Nigerians and how they went to college in the U.S. Who cares about the East Germans and their juicers. Nobody else was in the ballpark It was a I.S. broadcast that was focused on drama of breaking world record in a race that was over after first leg.

[@thetruthhasconsequences58]

Duh There are different broadcast trans depending upon the Country.

[@simonwoods8809]

@@thetruthhasconsequences58 I'm talking about the commentators.

[@cosmicwisdom999]

That's how you show patriotism

[@caramelhoney29]

Wow! How exciting.

[@keithf_]

What a ridiculous commentary ! I can barely stop laughing. The commentators regarded it as a time-trial against the clock, not an olympic final race against 7 other nations. 'OH NOOOOO ... we haven't broken the world record ... oh but wait a minute, that time is UNOFFICIAL ! So wait a minute folks, we STILL MIGHT have broken the world record ! Oh and by the way I'd have loved the commentators to mention who won the silver and bronze medals ... but we're the USA and we don't give a ****' I'm so glad that I live in the UK where we have commentators who actually commentate on the race, and have a comparative level of impartiality. Is it true that in the USA you only get to see events that you have a chance of winning ? Thanks for posting, and for giving me the best laugh I've had in ages !

[@pcolt4]

LOL spare me the "partiality" lecture. I've seen replays of the British broadcast where they're practically peeing themselves with glee just because a British runner takes silver or bronze and they barely mention the gold medal winner.

[@keithf1652]

@@pcolt4 Are you sure ? Sure British commentators get excited over a British medal ... but they DO give the whole of the field of runners due respect. THIS commentary was anything but, and was ultimately laughable

[@Kongkingkeng]

Almost break world record. Excellent run

[@pamela7651]

I always come back to see these races. Butch Reynolds the comeback kid. I just love to see him and Quincy watts run

[@curiouscharacter1]

Race starts at 3:01 if you want to skip the commentary.

[@Poundcakebowler]

Note: the clock was .01 off in the favor of the US Team, they indeed had tied the world record. Amazing run and stood for many years.

[@Sargebri]

Bill Crane Yep and they wound up breaking it four years later when Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Michael Johnson and Steve Lewis finally broke it with a time of 2:55.74.

[@Poundcakebowler]

I remember this and loved it

[@aaronnarsavage3640]

Had this race been run in Mexico City where the WR was set in this event in 1968, they conceivably would have beaten it by a full second. The other thing most people don't know or recall, was the 400m individual final where UCLA freshman Steve Lewis beat Reynolds for the gold medal. He was projected to finish 3rd behind not only Reynolds, but his older, upperclassman UCLA teammate Danny Everett too.

[@51elephantchang]

Just love the non-partisan commentary.

[@kerryjones1508]

What unprofessional commentators. They ignored the rest of the competitors.

[@puterbac]

Their US commentators on US network watching the US team tie a 20 yr old world record. Watch 1984 British broadcast of same race and its yeah Americans are winning real race is for second. Same thing.

[@APBCTechnique]

Very professional for a US audience

[@WilliamJeffs-vu7nr]

World series

[@Radagast-]

They managed to mention that all of the Nigerian team went to uni in the States!!!

[@ryanhuisman5381]

This broadcast was for ONLY the U.S. audience, so perfectly acceptable.

[@pamela7651]

Steve Lewis you have the prettiest form in track and field.

[@666zerowolf]

my splits indicate 43.09 final leg for Butch Reynolds!....this is a difficult race even to time!....those cats were flying that day!

[@AlfredMngomezulu]

Wow!What a contest between US and Jamaica!!!

[@mikebaker7776]

Avalon Hill made a chariot-racing boardgame back in the (late 70s?) called "Circus Maximus" that had an 8-lane "track" with staggered turns. My friend and I used blank carboard counters for wargames and drew stick figure "runners" with their names at the bottom and the country in the upper corner. We held "the Olympics" and placed each "runner" on the track and rolled dice to determine their speed. Totally primitive mechanics. We ran everything from the 100 to the 1,500 and both relays, but the fun was providing the commentary and doing the write-ups just like David Wallechinsky's "The Book of the Olympics"! That's how we passed the time before the internet and smartphones.

[@jacquelinerussell8530]

Missed it by that much👌

[@Finarphin]

I remember being out at UCLA -- Drake Stadium -- in 1987. Somebody was running repeat 220s. It looked like he was running about 20 flat; it probably wasn't that fast, but he was running like the wind. Who was it? When the Olympics rolled around the next year it was revealed it was Steve Lewis.

[@malvernwarmington4942]

Great run by the Jamaicans.

[@rohangray2132]

Could we have gotten the team line up for each team?

[@teller1290]

Where you from?

[@rohangray2132]

@@teller1290 The Island that is Dominating Both genders in Global sprinting.

[@rohangray2132]

At both the Junior and Senior levels...

[@rohangray2132]

It's been a long time coming since watching my first world championships in 83

[@rohangray2132]

Can you tell I'm Elated.

[@farrinlavar]

Beautiful technicians in running

[@Bronxxxnyc]

The commentators were so called "biased" towards the US because the US was clearly going after the world record; and was on pace to do so.

[@thetruthhasconsequences58]

It was the US broadcast. Duh

[@Jeanemilr-hn7tj]

Merveilleuse équipe usa

[@666zerowolf]

this method of timing the film is amazingly accurate!

[@Xx-po1fu]

America rocks, yeah baby.

[@stevecrocker6904]

well, 30 years later and the U.S. dominance continues in the 4 x 400 .... but shrinks in many other areas of T&F

[@ninamatthews8747]

This is just the us trying to break a wr. I’ve never seem a lead like that in an Olympic race before, 🤣

[@ranhill62]

Look at all these whiners crying and complaining about the commentary. The broadcast was for the US audience, so why would the focus on any other? Besides, it was a foregone conclusion the US men would win this race moonwalking. The World Record attempt was the real story.

[@clivebailey1326]

Just wanted to say, although you are right you HAD the best team by far.That doesn't mean no one else was relevant.The World record was awesome but don't be an ass.

[@davebesag]

I appreciate you couldn't care abut other countries in your isolationist outlook but It's the Olympics not the US Championships. Other countries commentators, for example Australia and the UK do a substantially better job. To not notice who finished second and third s pathetic. The US coverage is notorious for this sort of thing and this is a bad example.

[@davidhalley9795]

I grew up knowing the third leg (turkey leg) as the weakest BUT my coach did put the weakest leg on second.

[@ArtEmis55K]

The US team had the best athletes.... and they were doped too. Fools gold

[@chandanaabayasekara1976]

Yes you are correct we never believe these dopers

[@teller1290]

Proof? U.S. dominated sprints since before WWII. Only confirmed dopers were E. Germans.

[@dannymorgan7252]

I really don’t think you understand what doping looks like. The definitions on these men compared to say Ben Johnson and Flo Jo, are night and day

[@666zerowolf]

used my cell phone stopwatch...2:56.13...world record...everett...44.65....lewis....43.08.....robinson 44.91....butch reynolds....44.02

[@lionelwilliams509]

You do know the lead off leg is still the fastest out of that position at 43.78.

[@ranhill62]

1:12 I didn't know Luther VanDross ran track! LOL

[@eizyaws]

Looks nothing like him

[@NBUltra187]

@@eizyaws he was trying to be funny...and he wasn't

[@alpha2957]

Did they break the record?

[@verawallace9055]

No .it was a tie

[@misscritique84]

The older guy commentating is terrible

[@alanmoskowitz5779]

The 44.5 from the 3rd leg denied them thecrecord.

[@herbhouston5378]

Somebody PLEASE explain why "World Class" runners don't " run through" the tape!! Sooo many times in sooo many races that start to slow done before they get there!! WHY???

[@TheYorkMan]

oh, i love unbiased commentary......

[@marciadurrant4420]

#teamjamaica🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲

[@joeortiz7715]

What happened to East Germany? Only the women were "talented "?

[@djelalniyazi4090]

weres great britain there usualy good at this

[@fatbelly27]

Finished 5th, behind Jamaica and the two Germanies

[@wallybazoum]

@@fatbelly27 you mean 4th,east germany doesn't count !.

[@bodlongbow]

what a boring commentary! There were 8 teams running, not just one.

[@kennethcoleman1378]

This also isn't an international food. It is in English for a reason. Every country has their own commentators. Just like Australia during Sydney and the British During the London Games. It's not biased it's just whomevers countries feed you are watching, the commentating is going to be favored toward that country to make it exciting for the nations people who are watching back home.

[@ranhill62]

Kenneth Coleman yes, but there was only ONE team trying to break the world record. That was the story of this race, that was broadcast to the US audience.

[@dontlookback3549]

and the other 7 sucked

[@christansdad]

Those other 8 teams were out of the race after Danny Everett's first 300m. You don't hear commentators talk about runners 2-15 when Hicham El Guerrouj is trying to break a world record and the same is the case here.

[@davebesag]

@@kennethcoleman1378 Not to this extent and the US commentators are notorious for it.

[@GeoAce777]

Announcer is ridiculous....the 4x1 is a whole different animal than the 4x4 (baton exchanges and the staying within the zone)

[@peterwest5525]

I thought it was a race, with seven or eight teams. The commentators thought otherwise. Pathetic.

[@nachobroryan8824]

It was a broadcast only shown in the US. They knew their audience. Nobody cared about second place.

[@teller1290]

In American football, that race would be called a "blowout." It was over before end of first leg. All anyone in U.S. cared about then was world record, not the rest of the ham-and-eggers.

[@possumj7307]

US owns the 4x4

[@zakzanotti5868]

So what's the Fucking official results then 😂

[@mikey6538]

the arrogance of the male commentator... trivial qns... who finished 2nd or 3rd.... irritating

[@christansdad]

Nobody cares. This was a walkover and a world record attempt. The others were there for medals.

[@fabianmehler3540]

Would he find the other countries on a world map, I wonder

[@nickthefox72]

You spelt metre incorrectly

[@waynehentley4332]

That's how it's spelled in USA!

[@LenaSimmons]

The lunatics did not know the order of finish. Set a dopes.

[@muddlepond]

The worst commentary I've ever heard, so biased towards the USA. Like the previous comments, think they needed to include the other teams. Give me the BBC any day.

[@saschasix9958]

+tripleheshy at least other stations go through the whole lineup name by name rather than a two second mention of the other countries...even the Beeb does that.

[@GSMSfromFV]

+addMoreJuice __ So, the BBC now runs the show? Do they control the Olympics? Your comment is just typical sour grapes. As has been stated, every country has it's own commentators off of the international feed, and they can be as biased as they want. This just happens to be the U.S. commentators for U.S. consumption only. If you want more focus on other countries, then those countries need to win more events!

[@docsmithdc]

+GSMSfromFV Well said-everyone knew that the USA was trying to break a 20 year old record and that the race was for second place.It is annoying that most of the athletes from other countries(such as the entire Nigerian team in this race)come to the USA to train and take advantage of our facilities and experts and yet they and their "fans" never want to give the USA athletes credit for hard work and talent.There always has to be an excuse by accusation.

[@ewaf88]

Which is why Americans don't know very much about other countries - especially Europe. Appalling coverage. There might as well not have been any other countries runningmaking the commentary was devoid of any interest,

[@ewaf88]

It was simply poor commentary. I've met many Americans on my travels in Europe but they tended to be young graduates who had an interest in other cultures. Commentary like this which goes out to the general populace is blinkered in the extreme. I think you'd fine the most other countries would focus on the other athletes too.

[@РусланУрумханов]

А где СССР?

[@hazelwalsh3269]

Typical American commentary. No mention of the other places in the race!! Shameful!!

[@johnjaros7982]

You're an idiot; the US team had a legitimate shot at breaking a 20 year old record which had been set at altitude...they were a major story and far and away the class of the field, sorry that your crappy country wasn't close. The commentary was 100% justified for the occasion, moron

[@davebesag]

@@johnjaros7982 There was enough time to notice who come second and third.

[@LucilleMilo]

pathetic coverage.

[@trevmanu1]

How typical of the American commentary to be so one eyed. Compare that to the British team of David Coleman etc.

[@waynehentley4332]

Charlie Jones was the worst commentator! Ever!!!

[@mikevanriel7573]

He is great doing football.

[@davidthomas6536]

Such a biased commentary, the other teams might not have bothered to exhist. Typically American.

[@teller1290]

It was broadcast on U.S. tv for U.S. audiences. It was over after first 250 yards. They were going for a world record. We didn't need to know the life story of Jamaica's 3rd legger or what kind of drugs East Germans had shot up with.

[@giorgiop890]

druuugs

[@alisonhowells3393]

unfortunatley they were all drug addicts

[@GrenvilleP710]

Was it a race or a record attmpt pathetic.

[@rosrebel]

Doped team USA ......

[@teller1290]

That was the East Germans, you meant to say. Ours was a genetic advantage in sprints.

[@davidwainwright2816]

Totally biased arrogant commentary… US !!😣

[@texriba8000]

Butch