Running on Empathy wrote:
I've read the book several times. Don't really remember the Mike Boit claim. There was quite a bit of gamesmanship between the Ovett and Coe camps in the run-up to Moscow where one of them would suddenly switch to the other's event, only to have that one change events as well.
Whatever negative things Norman did, one thing he should get alot of credit for is allowing the elite athletes to have made a living doing what they did best.
I have to agree, having lived through the era. Track was very popular. I was an Ovett fan, I had a girlfriend who was in no way a runner and thought I was nuts for training so hard, yet she was a Coe fan and thought Ovett was an arrogant jerk.
The average person knew who the stars were.