Please don't tempt fate by mentioning Venti! The man was a bully and a menace on these boards. I don't know what happened to him, but I count my blessings that he is no longer on these boards polluting nonsense. Don't feel sorry for him! Lol.
A few points I'd like to add.
1) I don't think Cram's form at the end of 84 was far off the form he'd been in in Helsinki and thereafter in 83.
The LA final was a greater test of 1500m ability due to it being pretty fast from the beginning. Cram had a similar build up to LA (with a few injury issues) prior to Helsinki, and the slow opening there, with a gradual burn up from 800m out suited him down to the ground. Helsinki was won in a pedestrian 3:41, whereas LA was in 3:32, less than 2 secs outside the then WR.
If you look at Cram's closing splits in both races, you can see he was in similar shape:
Helsinki - 1:48.5, 52.1, 26.0, 13.3
LA - 1:50.4, 53.8, 26.5, 13.3
He subsequently ran a 3:33 on the circuit post LA off very fast pacing, looking to have a crack at the WR.
2) I think Ovett should have won the World Champs in 83 with better tactics, and I'm open to believing he was in very good form going in to LA; although previous races didn't indicate career peak form. Had Ovett ran the LA final in the best form he displayed in 83, then I think he would have got silver. I don't think anyone was beating Coe that day in LA, and in his subsequent performance in Zurich he looked in 3:28 form to me.
3) I'd always thought the Mile race between Cram and Ovett in 83 seemed a bit slow over the last lap, with Cram's last 400m being 53.5 and last 100m 13.9! Not that impressive for the world's leading milers in a 3:52 race (= c. 3:35 high for 1500m). But today, on closer analysis of the race, and trying to discern not altogether clear lines on the track, I discovered that Cram ran the 200m stretch from 1200m to 1400m in under 25.0! I had him in 24.9! He basically sprinted all out with 300 to go, forcing Ovett to follow, and then both 'died' in the home straight; where Cram went from averaging 12.5 to 13.9. On the day, Cram had a bit more strength left in the tank, possibly due to fewer races over the previous 10 days. Had Ovett held back a bit when Cram made his move, then possibly he might have had a bit left to pass him in the last 30m or so! Who knows!?
4) Cram in 85 and 86 was in his career best shape, even better than he'd been in 83/84. By 85, despite a late season defeat by Ovett (and early season ones by Coe and McKean over 800m)in a road race mile that was of little significance, there was no way Ovett could have lived with him in that Oslo mile WR. I know Steve had a few glimpses of good form in 85 and 86, but he never reached the form of 83 again. Ovett would have had to have been in his peak form from 78 -81 to have lived with Cram in that mile race, and likewise Coe would have had to be in his 79-81 or 84 shape. They all had a few individual days where they looked and probably were unbeatable in that particular race, with that specific pace and circumstances. Cram's perfect day was the Mile WR of 85; everything clicked for him there. I think Cram was able to maintain his peak form in 86, and it is to Coe's credit that after a disappointing 85, when dealing with his own niggling injury issues, he was able to match Cram in 86, beating him over 800m and running a faster 1500m, which should have broken Cram's UK record and indeed Aouita's WR, without Chesire slowing down in front of him and forcing him to run wide on the penultimate bend.
5) Ovett's perfect day was probably the World Cup in 77, with that 12.0 round the last curve, destroying Walker and the rest in half a dozen strides. 2 of Coe's were his Olympic wins. I don't believe Ovett was unduly affected by heat or illness in Moscow, as he ran the last 100m in the 1500 final (12.6, easing up a little in last few strides) faster than he did when winning the 800m (12.7!). Coe just wanted it more. With 100m to go, Ovett was 0.1sec behind Coe, so for him to defeat Coe's last 100m of 12.1, he'd have had to run a last 100m inside 12.0! He never did that before or after in his career. Indeed, Coe's last 100m remains the fastest in any Championship final over 1500m.