How did Seb Coe not make the 1988 GB Olympic Team?

There's a pretty good chance that the selectors gave a spot to Elliot because he had been left off in '84 despite beating Coe at the trials.

I think he had a bad race in the selection race or maybe a heat and was left off the team. It was very, very controversial.

just found the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfoYjWf08S4

I think Peter Elliot had already been pre-selected so Seb would have had to finish in the top two at the trials and he didn't make it. I think he had had several off-years in a row and at 32 was considered past his prime. Steve Cram was the other 1500 runner. Not sure who the third was. Coe did run isolated good times, mainly over 800, late in his career, but the Olympics requires several races in a row and it's debatable whether Coe could have held up. That said, the way the 1988 1500 final played out was the perfect kind of race for Coe -- pretty much like the 1984 race.

steve crabb?

Elliot won the AAA race with a last 300 of 38, last 400 of 51high. So he was in. Cram didn't run that race but ran in the Olympics-I guess he got the automatic spot instead of Coe?

Thanks for the video. Cram clearly got the pre-selected 1500 spot since he didn't run the 1500 at the trials. (He had gotten 2nd at the World Championships the previous year.) Coe, from the video, finished 4th in his 1500 heat and didn't even make the final. Looked really bad. Struggling even off a slow pace.

When he was left off, Juan Antonia Samaranch, who was the head of the IOC at the time, floated a trial balloon that he would extend a "personal invitation" for Coe to run the 1500m as the 2-time defending Olympic champion.

In the end, it ended up not happening -- not sure if Samaranch got pressure to not do it, or if Coe politely poo-pooed it to avoid controversy. But my memory is that there were a lot of people who wanted to see him race.

Why didn't Coe run the 800m instead of the 1500m? That seemed to be an event he could run 1:44 in his sleep.

That was an awesome Video. I f#$king loved Ovett in the heats!!! We need more guys like that to spice things up in this sport. I know running fast is very important, but a little show is great also. Bekele is a fantastic runner runs fast, but i like a fist pump a heart pump....something.....just give me something!

please Webb, please Mottram, Please someone bring some show!

Yeah kind of like Michael Stember did to Webb in the heats of the 1500m at the 2004 US trials before Webb blasted him in the finals....oh wait I think that happened in the finals of the British trials 1500m in 1988 as well...

need some spice wrote:

That was an awesome Video. I f#$king loved Ovett in the heats!!!

I would agree, if he hadn't got his doors blown off in the final.

So the moral of this story is Alan Webb fails to make 2008 team and will retire without making another Olympic team?

Les wrote:

Coe, from the video, finished 4th in his 1500 heat and didn't even make the final. Looked really bad. Struggling even off a slow pace.

In short, he turned into Alan Webb.

What nobody seems to point out is that Coe was ill with a chest infection at the time of the trials, something that UK Athletics doctors confirmed afterwards. He struggled to run 3:45 in a heat, despite running a 3:37 solo 1500m the previous week while in Switzerland doing Altitude training!

Why did he run in the trials if he was ill, you might ask?

Well, the selectors and the AAA, in their infinite wisdom, decided to change the policy for selection that year. Previously, it had been the first past the post in the trials, plus 2 chosen at the discretion of the selectors. In 1988, they decided that the first 2 in the trials would go, while only the last remaining place would be "selected". Coe, among others, had been openly critical of this policy in the months running up to the trials, citing that while it might make sense for some countries, it was far from ideal in the UK where there was less "in depth" talent, and would thus enable some athletes to get "lucky" in the Trials and deprive an established competitor (who may under perform or be injured 7 weeks prior to the Olympics) of a place on the team.

There were NO pre selected athletes in '88. Cram won the 800m at the trials, with McKean second, and after Coe not making the final due to illness (not because of poor form;...he hadn't been beaten by any other British athlete that season to this point in 5 races, and had beaten Ereng, who went on to win the Olympic title, twice at 800m) the way was left open for Elliot to win the 1500m trial and Crabb to come second.

The selectors then had to chose between Elliott & Coe for the discretionary last place over 800m and Cram and Coe for the last place over 1500m.

Coe was the reigning European Champion at 800m and was faster than Elliott that year (1988), while Elliott had won the silver at the previous year's world champs. Coe, on the other hand, had only run once in '87 in May, before a foot injury ruled him out for the rest of the season. The claim of some on here that Coe had several "bad" season at this time is just not true! He had simply been unable to run in 87 due to injury and then ruled out of the '88 Olympics.

In the end the selectors chose Cram for the 1500m spot, despite already having been beaten by other UK athletes that year (Sharpe and Morrell over 1000m) and coming way down the field in the '87 World final, on account of early season fast times.

Over 800m the selection committee chose Coe over Elliott (which wasn't common knowledge at the time), but their decision was then overruled by the full Board meeting of the AAA Council the next day by one vote!! There was a "botch up" over the allocation of votes and the final decision caused a lot of controversy in the press and media. Moreover, it is a strongly held belief that the AAA Council's decision was politically motivated. Firstly, he had criticised their selection policy vociferously and second, he had been the head of the Sports Council when a decision was made in 1986 that Athletics would get less funding for the Olympics, in order to give more money to less established sports like hockey, gymnastics, etc. It is believed that they wanted to take him down a peg or two!

Interestingly, 3 weeks later, having still not fully recovered from what developed into bronchitis, Coe ran 1:43.93, faster than any Britain was to run in Seoul and faster than Elliott managed to win all season. 3 days later he ran a 3:35 1500m. This was still a month before the Games, where Coe had always said he was peaking for. By this time Cram was injured, but still insisting he wanted to run both events in Seoul.

In Seoul, neither Cram nor Mckean even reached the semi finals in the 800m, and Crabb failed to make the final of the 1500m.

The next year, Coe's 33rd, he would record the fastest times by a Britain over both 800 and 1500m, run the second fastest 800m in the world (1:43.38) and come a very close second to Bile in the World Cup 1500m, despite being fouled by the African at the start of the home straight. He would also beat the best the UK had to offer in the AAA 1500m final, despite falling over with a lap to go and being 15m behind the leaders at the bell.

Coe had always doubled up successfully in his career (80, 84 and 86) and he was building up gradually to be at a peak in Seoul. The evidence is that it was more likely he would have been successful again than not!

What I forgot to mention, is that with his criticism of the "new" selection policy, the AAA's decision that everyone who wished to be considered for Olympic selection HAD to run at the trials, and Coe's illness on the eve of the event, he was in a no win situation. If he didn't run, the selectors could say he was avoiding other athletes, that he wasn't fit or that he was expecting preferential treatment. If he did run, while ill, he might not finish in the first 2 and thus miss out on selection and the discretionary place. With hindsight perhaps he had a better chance of being selected had he not run, but that is debatable.

In other events, where Britain had only 1 or 2 "good" athletes, that athlete could afford not to run in the Trials if ill or injured, and still expect to get the discretionary vote. But in the middle distances, the UK had more depth and it meant that someone "big" would be left out if any of the "big guns" had problems and failed to finish in the first 2. Ironically for Coe, that athlete turned out to be himself; the one who had been critical of the policy and had warned of such a scenario all summer long!

What I forgot to mention, is that with his criticism of the "new" selection policy, the AAA's decision that everyone who wished to be considered for Olympic selection HAD to run at the trials, and Coe's illness on the eve of the event, he was in a no win situation. If he didn't run, the selectors could say he was avoiding other athletes, that he wasn't fit or that he was expecting preferential treatment. If he did run, while ill, he might not finish in the first 2 and thus miss out on selection and the discretionary place. With hindsight perhaps he had a better chance of being selected had he not run, but that is debatable.

In other events, where Britain had only 1 or 2 "good" athletes, that athlete could afford not to run in the Trials if ill or injured, and still expect to get the discretionary vote. But in the middle distances, the UK had more depth and it meant that someone "big" would be left out if any of the "big guns" had problems and failed to finish in the first 2. Ironically for Coe, that athlete turned out to be himself; the one who had been critical of the policy and had warned of such a scenario all summer long!

are you "deano27671" who is always on Coe's nuts and has posted on every single vid of Coe's on youtube defending him against all attacks?

figured you would be on letsrun too.

deano, I've seen your comments on Youtube.

You have an unhealthy obsession with Coe akin to the430miler's obsession with Paul Tergat.

Cram hadn't got 2nd at the '87 World Champs, he came home 8th!