Who has the best finishing kick ever?

Tell It Like It Is wrote:

Deanouk wrote:

He eased off a bit with about 10m to go. It wasn’t 0.7sec worth of easing up. If he hadn’t he still wasn’t going to run 49.8 or break 50sec. Maybe 50.2.

Too much fish & chips there Brit? You have no clue what you're talking about. Cacho pulled the parachute easing up with more like 15 meters to go - look at his stride length & arm movement change as he approaches the line. If he had charged full throttle through the line he could have easily wiped out 0.7 seconds to a sub-50. He had the race won coming out of turn 4!

https://youtu.be/CQXByhqA3YA

Utter nonsense.

He looks behind at 3:36.9 of the race, sees he is going to win. At this stage he is 0.7 sec in front of 2nd athlete. He appears to slow at about 3:37.7, when he is still 0.7sec in front. No change there. He is not pulling any further away from the field.

He then runs another 2.4 secs before finishing. At the end of the race the gap between him and 2nd has closed to 0.5 secs. They have closed by 0.2, possibly 0.3 when everything is rounded, which is a gap of no more than 2m.

You are suggesting he could have been 0.7 secs faster than he actually ran, in order to have run a last lap of 49.8, which a poster inaccurately claimed he did, had he not slowed down in the last 15m!?

That is physically impossible. In order to do that, he would have had to pull away from a lead of 0.7 to that of 1.4, all in the last 15m. A 5.5m gap would have had to become an 11.5m one. In other words, he'd have had to put an extra 6m between him and the 2nd athlete, in the space of 15m or so. LOL.

husein wrote:

No comparison. In his prime, Ryun could close the last 400 in 49 w/out even thinking about it.

Except in all the races that I know of, he never did.

If the pace was slow enough, then of course he could have done, as could many others given a slow enough first 3 laps.

The most impressive last lap by Ryun was that 1500 in Dusseldorf, where his last lap was 50.5 in a 3:38.

Why are we even debating this topic? Everyone who has made more than one visit to LR knows the answer to this regularly posed question.

1. Ryun.

2. Multiple last laps under 50, some as fast as 44.0 DVTT (tm)

3. ~3.24

QED.

Utter nonsense to you Brit. ☝️ When you're running at the velocity these world-class elites run at the 1500, you lose a lot of time when you let up on the throttle...nothing new there. FFS, with 15-16 meters to go he starts celebrating by raising his arms straight in the air and practically jogs to the line. There's easily your 0.7 seconds, as in seven "TENTHS," lost right there! (have you ever raced a 15? ). I don't think you're watching that video correctly - get some glasses! ?

Dave Wottle, James Robinson.

jamese wrote:

Dave Wottle, James Robinson.

Wottle? The guy with the funny race hat?

Juha the Cruel!

Deanouk wrote:

husein wrote:

No comparison. In his prime, Ryun could close the last 400 in 49 w/out even thinking about it.

Except in all the races that I know of, he never did.

If the pace was slow enough, then of course he could have done, as could many others given a slow enough first 3 laps.

The most impressive last lap by Ryun was that 1500 in Dusseldorf, where his last lap was 50.5 in a 3:38.

50.3 I believe is what said88 said, who has the full video (which he bizarrely won't post, 51 years later). On a beat up cinder track, it's worth noting, which really didn't start till the 300 to go mark. It's really the last 300 that is so impressive, in conjunction with a finishing time of 3:38 on cinders. Not sure many others could have done that, and certainly not on cinders.

Best change of pace:

- Miruts Yifter

- Sebastian Coe

- Kenenisa Bekele

Best kick inside 400m:

- Jim Ryun

- Peter Snell

- Steve Ovett

Best long distance 400m+ kick:

- Lasse Viren

- Hicham El Guerrouj

Svensson wrote:

Best change of pace:

- Miruts Yifter

- Sebastian Coe

- Kenenisa Bekele

Best kick inside 400m:

- Jim Ryun

- Peter Snell

- Steve Ovett

Best long distance 400m+ kick:

- Lasse Viren

- Hicham El Guerrouj

When you are talking about a > 400m out kick, Steve Cram has got to be up there.

Cram was the best at increasing the pace gradually, until the field falls away.

Kutsopek wrote:

Svensson wrote:

Best change of pace:

- Miruts Yifter

- Sebastian Coe

- Kenenisa Bekele

Best kick inside 400m:

- Jim Ryun

- Peter Snell

- Steve Ovett

Best long distance 400m+ kick:

- Lasse Viren

- Hicham El Guerrouj

When you are talking about a > 400m out kick, Steve Cram has got to be up there.

Cram was the best at increasing the pace gradually, until the field falls away.

Liquori was also a master of the long kick.

Svensson wrote:

Best change of pace:

- Miruts Yifter

- Sebastian Coe

- Kenenisa Bekele

Best kick inside 400m:

- Jim Ryun

- Peter Snell

- Steve Ovett

Best long distance 400m+ kick:

- Lasse Viren

- Hicham El Guerrouj

This is probably one of the sickest pace changes ever in a championship race. Geb toying with 3 guys who all had better PB´s than Farah.

chuff wrote:

Kutsopek wrote:

When you are talking about a > 400m out kick, Steve Cram has got to be up there.

Cram was the best at increasing the pace gradually, until the field falls away.

Liquori was also a master of the long kick.

so was Kuts. He led every race he ran and only lost a couple.

chuff wrote:

Kutsopek wrote:

When you are talking about a > 400m out kick, Steve Cram has got to be up there.

Cram was the best at increasing the pace gradually, until the field falls away.

Liquori was also a master of the long kick.

Kipchoge is the master of ever increasing the pace in the latter part of the marathon.

Carlos Lopes was great with the long kick in the cross country.

chuff wrote:

Kutsopek wrote:

When you are talking about a > 400m out kick, Steve Cram has got to be up there.

Cram was the best at increasing the pace gradually, until the field falls away.

Liquori was also a master of the long kick.

Like here

Alex Kipchirchir ran a 48.8 last lap at the iaaf world cup 1500m in 2006. Short but excellent career. 3.30, 1.44. He would have likely "won" the world champs in 2005, had he not foolishly followed Webb's sudden burst with 700m to go. Blew up big time. I saw won, because Ramzi and Kiauch we're later caught for doping.

When Alan Webb was in his prime in 2007, and he was patient enough to wait until the end, his kick was unbeatable. Devastating last 100m at new York and then USAs against Lagat.

rookie fans wrote:

Alex Kipchirchir ran a 48.8 last lap at the iaaf world cup 1500m in 2006. Short but excellent career. 3.30, 1.44. He would have likely "won" the world champs in 2005, had he not foolishly followed Webb's sudden burst with 700m to go. Blew up big time. I saw won, because Ramzi and Kiauch we're later caught for doping.

Maybe 49.8, but it definitely wasn’t 48.8!

I'd say Cova. Did you see him at the World Championships back in 1983?

Olympic Games

1984 Los Angeles

10000 m

World Championships

1983 Helsinki

10000 m

European Championships

1982 Athens

10000 m

1986 Stuttgart

10000 m

Mediterranean Games

1983 Casablanca

5000 m