World class miler for many years. But was only on top for perhaps 3 years. And may have shared some or all of those with Bayi.
El G and Morceli on the other hand were each at the top for several years, perhaps as many as 9 for El G (Morceli 1990-95 for sure and maybe 1996; El G maybe 1996 and 1997-2004 for sure).
and not one North African even made last year's 1500m final?
I'm not too enthralled with the 100 sub-4 thing though. Once you have the ability to do it, running a huge number of them just means you attempted to do so, so meh to that.
Trust me Mr. Walker doesn't care if you are enthralled or not. You've broken 4 minutes how many times? Meh to you.
I remember that him and Steve Scott were in competition to be the first to 100 sub 4 miles. Is it true that Scott accused him of breaking an agreement whereby they would have both raced their 100th sub 4 together (with the winner obviously being the first to a 100)?
Actually he was just as fast with the calf problem. He eliminated long runs, cut his mileage and ran more quality in his training. More miles < 5 worked just fine.
No, it didn't. I interviewed him about this. His training was compromised.
I'm not too enthralled with the 100 sub-4 thing though. Once you have the ability to do it, running a huge number of them just means you attempted to do so, so meh to that.
Trust me Mr. Walker doesn't care if you are enthralled or not. You've broken 4 minutes how many times? Meh w to you.
1) I expect that he doesn't.
2) How many times I've broken 4:00 matters not.
3) Walker was great because he ran 3:49 and won an Olympic Gold Medal and ran 13:19 when that was really fast. His 100 sub 4:00 miles doesn't add to his greatness...the least great thing he did.
I remember that him and Steve Scott were in competition to be the first to 100 sub 4 miles. Is it true that Scott accused him of breaking an agreement whereby they would have both raced their 100th sub 4 together (with the winner obviously being the first to a 100)?
By my count Nick Willis ran exactly 100 sub-3:42 1500s, not counting split times en route to a mile. Quite the achievement in its own right, I think it emphasizes how impressive it is to tally the sub-4s that Walker and Scott ran, since they did it in a non-championship.
Actually he was just as fast with the calf problem. He eliminated long runs, cut his mileage and ran more quality in his training. More miles < 5 worked just fine.
No, it didn't. I interviewed him about this. His training was compromised.
Agreed. His 1976 2000 meter WR was exceptional; Cram just barely broke it and Aouita was only slightly faster than Cram. Walker never again had quite the same fitness--or kick.
I admire Walker for how long his career was, persisting at a high level long after medals were unlikely. He seemed to like to race. But, honestly, he was not the same after '75/76; in those years he could just power away from anyone. As others have said, the calf injury kept him from being the same runner he had been. Very much like Ovett, who was may have run some fast times even after his knee injury in late 1981, but never had that unbeatable burst of speed.
I admire Walker for how long his career was, persisting at a high level long after medals were unlikely. He seemed to like to race. But, honestly, he was not the same after '75/76; in those years he could just power away from anyone. As others have said, the calf injury kept him from being the same runner he had been. Very much like Ovett, who was may have run some fast times even after his knee injury in late 1981, but never had that unbeatable burst of speed.
I too am as impressed by the length of Walker's career as I am by the high end accomplishments. In our mainstream sports that have Halls of Fame length of career is an important consideration in determining whether a particular athlete gets admitted. And I think running as well as he did after his peak even though he could not really train like he did at his peak is impressive too.
World class miler for many years. But was only on top for perhaps 3 years. And may have shared some or all of those with Bayi.
El G and Morceli on the other hand were each at the top for several years, perhaps as many as 9 for El G (Morceli 1990-95 for sure and maybe 1996; El G maybe 1996 and 1997-2004 for sure).
Don't you find it somewhat co-incidental that an Algerian and a Moroccan dominated the entire 12 years or so of the full throttle EPO era, and since then, the only North Africans who got close were Ramzi and another obvious doper who finally got caught (or at least exposed), and not one North African even made last year's 1500m final?
Imagine John Walker on EPO in 1975/76? He also developed I think calf problems in 77 or even earlier, and wasn't able to train as hard.
Actually he was just as fast with the calf problem. He eliminated long runs, cut his mileage and ran more quality in his training. More miles < 5 worked just fine.
If you are saying J Walker set a one mile p.b., 1982, it is a fact. I will have to agree with that narrow fact. If you are implying J Walker was just as good or a better running after calf issues, you are incorrect.
* He never improved his 800m post calf issues.
* He never had a great kick post calf problems. Nineteen-seventy six Olympics, men's 1500m final, J Walker split final 300m, sub-38. We never saw that John Walker 1977 or later.
* His 1500m never improved after 1976.
A kick, as I am sure you know is mostly a combination of raw speed, endurance and anaerobic discomfort tolerance. Obviously, J Walker's undertraining post 1976 is correlated significantly with him losing his kick.
I admire Walker for how long his career was, persisting at a high level long after medals were unlikely. He seemed to like to race. But, honestly, he was not the same after '75/76; in those years he could just power away from anyone. As others have said, the calf injury kept him from being the same runner he had been. Very much like Ovett, who was may have run some fast times even after his knee injury in late 1981, but never had that unbeatable burst of speed.
3:49.08 - 7-7-82 -2nd
3:49.4 - 8-12-75 - 1st
3:49.50 - 6-26-82 -4th
3:49.73 - 8-29-84 -2nd
3:49.73 - 8-17-83 -2nd
3:50.01 - 7-13 -82 - 3rd
you guys talk blah blah blah .. He had his calves stripped of the fascia..he was just fine, wayyy better then you paint him, post 1976/77; 9 years of 3:50 to 3:49 .. 6x. Up through and past his 32nd+ birthday… 135 sub 4:00.0 / gold medal 1976/ WR mile.
We were deprived of some great battles between 77 and 81 because of Walker developing the injury problems and Ivo Van Damme's death. If those two had been racing at their peak in those years the whole Coe vs Ovett would have been different. Perhaps they would have raced each other more as they wouldn't have been so dominant and likely not have unbeaten records to maintain.
Walker was a total stud and was never scared to race anybody. When Coe and Ovett rose up to the top, they always avoided racing each other unless it was the Olympics. Many times meet directors would have both One Mile and 1500 meter races or a 1k would get added just to accommodate both because they wanted to protect #1 status. Walker didn't care who was on the line and if you're really an old time junkie, you'd see there were many times July-September (before there was a World Champs) he was racing 2-3 times a week in Europe just to have enough beer money and catch the next train. His durability was pretty incredible, but more so was his no fear to lose mentality.
John Walker runs 3:49.40; 47 years ago; 8/12/1975 ... The first man ever in track history to break the 3:50.0 mile run..! Video in link below.
Walker may be the greatest miler of all-time ran the mile, 135x under 4:00.0...!! His first run under 4:00.0 was on July 7th, 1973 at the age of 21 with a time of 3:58.8
Walker was the first man to reach 100 sub 4 on 2/17/85 ...! His 100th was 3:54.57 at age 33.
** **To become the first man to record 100x sub4 he ran ..12 sub 4 between 12/15/84 to 2/17/85..!!! ~65days/12sub-4..!
Recorded a total of 135 of sub-4; but I can't find the date of his last one... Maybe 16+ years of sub-4..!
5x sub-3:50.00...! His best 5 times sub-3:50.00... 3:49.73; 3:49.73; 3:49.50; 3:49.4; 3:49.08 ... His sixth best was 3:50.01..! Gold medal in the 1500; the metric mile; at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.
I had that famous poster of Walker from TFN on my wall for many years. I'll bet that was a big seller. The NZ trio of Walker, Dixon, and Quax were heroes to many of us. And of course there were other successful distance Kiwis from the distaff side like Anne Audain, Lorraine Moller, and Allison Roe.
I always liked that quip from Walker regarding his GOAT: Secretariat, the Triple Crown winning thoroughbred.
I admire Walker for how long his career was, persisting at a high level long after medals were unlikely. He seemed to like to race. But, honestly, he was not the same after '75/76; in those years he could just power away from anyone. As others have said, the calf injury kept him from being the same runner he had been. Very much like Ovett, who was may have run some fast times even after his knee injury in late 1981, but never had that unbeatable burst of speed.
3:49.08 - 7-7-82 -2nd
3:49.4 - 8-12-75 - 1st
3:49.50 - 6-26-82 -4th
3:49.73 - 8-29-84 -2nd
3:49.73 - 8-17-83 -2nd
3:50.01 - 7-13 -82 - 3rd
you guys talk blah blah blah .. He had his calves stripped of the fascia..he was just fine, wayyy better then you paint him, post 1976/77; 9 years of 3:50 to 3:49 .. 6x. Up through and past his 32nd+ birthday… 135 sub 4:00.0 / gold medal 1976/ WR mile.
To repeat, John Walker had 127 documented track sub-4s (not 135) with 18 consecutive years of at least one track sub-4 (July 7, 1973 to August 17, 1990).
Besides coaching John, Arch also coached Dixon and Quax, whom Arch introduced me to in Santa Barbara in 1978 (the NZ team was training for the Commonwealth Games at UCSB).