Is Herb Elliott's 1960 triumph the greatest Olympic 1500m performance in history?

Keino's dominating win in 1968 was magnificent--considering the altitude, probably the greatest 1500 run to that point--but the likelihood that he had received a blood transfusion taints it somewhat.

The thing that impresses me most about Elliott's run is that he clearly was running on fumes in the homestraight...and yet he extended his lead over the others. Jazy, who said it was his toughest race ever, was just able to walk off the track afterwards.

One of the best. Up there with being an utterly comprehensive victory and beating his own wr. However, I have to also rate Snell winning the 1500 at Tokyo '64, because he accomplished it as his 6th race in 9 days, retaining his 800 title en route, and blew the competition away with a kick as good as any in the sport over the last 250m. But, then, I have a partiality.

Going further back, Lovelock's victory over Cunningham and defending champion Beccali at Berlin in '36, in which he set a wr, has been described as "the perfect race".

Keino at Mexico '68 (although he was favoured by altitude) is up there, Walker at Montreal, Coe was magnificent at Moscow and Los Angeles, El G the same at Athens - there have been some great Olympic 1500 finals - for different reasons.

When did Jazy do any high-altitude training during his competitive career? He trained mostly around Paris where he worked and sometimes in Valadalen, Sweden which was hardly high-altitude.

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What do you mean by “conservatively”?

Asterisks for Moscow and LA. Both those Games were boycotted by many countries.

Maybe. But the competition in both 1500's included the best in the world and his greatest rivals. I don't think that in '80 and '84 there were Africans or Russians at the same level in those events. That changed later in the 80's. The best contender in '84 ran in the 5000. Aouita.

Lots of good remembrances here and in other posts. I will say the Walker's Montreal win in 1976 was not so impressive --- he was a heavy favorite and just barely won by 0.1 sec, almost getting caught at the line. His mile WR run the year before and his 2000m WR were far more impressive performances. I'm a big Walker fan overall, though.

Coe's LA win was faster and over a more loaded field than his Moscow win, which was seen as a two-man battle before the race (Straub surprised and made it a 3-way duel). Overcoming the 800m loss psychologically was impressive, of course.

Other than those already mentioned, Ngeny outkicking El G in a fast race in 2000 deserves mention, and Jakob's win in 2021 is the Olympic record, so deserves respect although an adjustment for the shoe tech could be considered.

You can go forth and back with your history ... the standard EA and NA will be the rule

You have a big gap in in XC and marathon ... too big.

The only European countries close to middle distances are Portugal.

This was well demonstrated by their results in long distances in the 80s.

That would be El g in Athen. Dude took the lead at 600-700 and ran the last 800 in a whooping 1:46, 400m in 51. No human has ever come close.

Well to be fair, Bernard Lagat did. And that other EPO head Rui Silva only finished 0.5s behind too.

Also, as I've pointed out here many times, Moscow at the height of the Cold War and guys like Straub were almost certainly blood doped out of their brains. Of course, Straub's remarkable long kick probably benefitted Coe more than Ovett. Western runners were also disadvantaged by having to have chaperones and such like whenever they left the village.

Straub retired straight after Moscow, and likely would never have given a similar performance, let alone in LA, just as he had never showed that ability prior to Moscow. As you say, the boycott really didn't make any difference to the men's 1500m in LA.

Well add 3 sec of supershoes + track (scientifically proved) against a hypothetical EPO usage. (Like you I really seek like you proofs of EPO use).

You are running in a empty circle of hatred.

I see it has already been pointed out that he only just beat Lagat.

El G's victory was a great race but because he only just made it it wasn't as great a victory as Elliott's, who absolutely crushed his competitors, as did Snell. The degree of superiority these great runners had over their competition is one of the factors that emphasizes their position in the sport.

OP has already forgotten Centro in 2016. Clearly the greatest ever 1500m final. Textbook race in terms of how to dominate.

Not "maybe". A fact.

No, many of the best were missing. 7 of the 10 fastest of 1980 were not in Moscow.

It is the Josey Barthel ('52 Helsinki) win in the 21st century. The least likely and the least impressive. A mixture of canniness and luck. It was his only big win. Unlike the greats, he was never the best amongst his peers. They ran a terrible race that day.

7 years later, Elliott's WR was bettered by 2.5 seconds. 26 years later, 59 athletes have bettered his WR.

26 years later, El G's WR still stands.