Seppelt fan wrote:
Coevett wrote:This has been done to death a thousand times here. Ovett destroyed all the boycott athletes the week before Moscow when they were likely far more motivated than him. Between 1979 and 1981 Ovett and Coe were in a different league to anybody else. Ovett I think only lost once - to Coe and a clearly juiced up Straub at Moscow - between 77 and 81 at 1500/Mile. Coe was two seconds faster than anybody else in history in 1981. Coe lost a lot of races in the next few years when he was clearly ill for most of that time, and Ovett had a chunk of his thigh removed and then had the problems at LA in 84.
In 1981 it is fair to say that Coe and Ovett were on another level to anybody else and it seemed that it would remain that way for at least another couple of years or so. By the end of the 81 season it was obvious that Cram was developing into a similar talent at the Mile but he was still not quite in their league. A couple of the other guys you mentioned like Cruz and Bile did reach a (brief) potential comparable to Coe and Ovett in their respective specialist differences (800 and 1500). Cruz ran close to Coes WR three times in 84 and never really threatened again. If Coe had remained fit in 82 or chased the WR several times in 81 instead of the 1500/Mile he might have run low 1.41 or even faster and still be the WR holder. He should have beaten a prime Bile when he as way past his best at the 1989 World Cup but was impeded.
And thanks for not mentioning Aouita ;D
A lot of ifs and buts and shouldas are used in your argument. We could also say that if Beyer had remained fit and not sustained an severe injury requiring surgery in 1979 he would have gone on to dominate championship 800m running for the next 5 years, or if Cruz had not had injuries due to leg length differences he would have run faster, or if Gonzalez had not been severely injured prior to the 1984 Olympics he would have won etc . etc. . Basically the same type argument of injuries or illnesses preventing Coe or Ovett from fulfilling their potential can be used for almost every single one of their rivals competing in the same league as they did. Gonzales finished 2nd to Bile in 1987 as did Coe in 1989. Both were excellent efforts but Bile was the better man over championship 1500m running whether we like it or not when you actually look at the results.
The fact remains that neither Coe or Ovett, great as they were, never won a medal in a non-boycotted global championship. They had their chances in 1983 and 1987 and 1988 and other runners of their generation were able succeed in doing so even though they were also impacted by the boycotts. British runners Elliott and Cram have better championship running credentials in this regard.
I did not mention Aouita as his best championship performances were over 5000m – but you can include him as well if you wish :D
Well it's lucky that Beyer had that injury, because it would be a shame if somebody whose name was on a GDR list of doped athletes were to have dominated that era. And what reason have you to believe he could have dominated anyway? Certainly not the 1500m. He was destroyed by Ovett just a few days later at the same championships and trailed in 9th. He ran a great 800m race in Prague, but we know that Coe was suicidal in that race and Ovett was focused solely on Coe. In other words, he was a bit lucky that day.
I presume it was you who made the claim about Gonazelz winning at LA if he hadn't been injured because I've never come across any other person who thinks that. There is no evidence before or after LA that he was capable of that, apart from in 1987 when he rather suspiciously was able to run sub 50 second last laps in his 30s.
'Plenty of ifs and but'. I don't wish to be rude but yours is the dumbest post I've read here for a while. Coe and Ovett absolutely dominated at both 800 and 1500 between 79 and 81, Ovett had been dominating since 77. They smashed numerous world records, performing feats never seen before or since, such as Coe breaking 4 WRs in one season and (briefly) being the only ever athlete to hold the 800- mile world records, and both he and Ovett trading 3 Mile world records in 9 days (Ovett claims he would have got it back a couple of days later but the season was over, and he couldn't find a promotor to set up a race for him - but that's the only real if and but I've mentioned here).
Coe and Ovett were still in their physical peak and still improving (or at least Ovett was seriously chasing WRs by now) going into 82. It's not logical to think that they wouldn't have continued to chop at least a few tenths of a second off one or two of their WRs if they had remained healthy, especially if as planned they had raced each other a number of times in 82. There was nobody in 82 who really got close to their times, although Cram certainly was getting there and proved he was on their level as a competitor and ready to challenge them when they came back.
Are you really saying that Gonzalez being injured before LA was a greater 'what if?' than Ovett not crashing into railings at the end of 81, or Coe getting ill in 82 and 83?