Some sub 3:50 statistics
ELG - 13
Morceli - 10
Scott - 8
Cram - 7
Coe - 5
Walker - 5
Spivey - 2
Maree - 2
Falcon - 1
I think as time goes by people will realize Scott was probably better than Ryun. Scott was just plain faster.
Steve Scott was elected into the track and field hall or fame last year. Why so long?
Steve Scott alone has accomplished more in the mile/1500 than all the US milers in the last 20 years.
Scott is so far ahead of other US milers it is almost comical.
If Webb becomes as good as Scott was then we will all be thrilled. However, lets be honest it will be hard for Webb to equal Scotts accomplishments. Webb first has to run a mile in at least 3:50 to be even considered as good as Holman or Byers. Scott is at a whole other level.
I have come around. Scott was better than Ryun.
i agree with you drew. your dad is by far the best US miler ever.
good fortune allowed me to have dinner with your dad and heather one evening. it was a great evening for about 5 or 6 of us to spend time with them. i hope they enjoyed it.
Too close too call.
Mile fan...Scott's number is 136. Where are you getting 147 from? You counting road miles or something?
I am starting to wonder if any American will ever run a 3:47 mile again.
It seems today's US milers are programmed to run no faster than 3:54 for the mile. The last sub 3:50 mile run by an American was in 1991 by Jim Spivey!!
It seems the French and the Spanish milers are now running like Scott and Spivey did in the early 80's. Where are these Spanish milers coming from?!
drewr wrote:
Malmo-
Ryun or Scott? Give us your opinion.:)
Drew, if everyone posting on this thread watched film footage juxtaposition of your dad and Scott , we'd end up with a unanimous decision.
From "the 4 minute mile is no longer mythical".
"That list includes three milers who have broken four
minutes 100 or more times: the American Steve Scott (147),
John Walker of New Zealand (137), and the Irishman Marcus
O'Sullivan (100), who is the track coach at Villanova
University."
Having seen neither of them actually run, could you give me a hint?
I've gotta dig up some tape...
Steve Scott! There is something that has to be said for establishing as long as a career as he did. His time at the top as one of the Worlds Best Milers lasted a decade and a half. If not for his physical ailments as a PreMaster(is that a word?) he would have probably continued to break 4:00 minutes into his early 40's!! **Since he didn't, someone has too!** I have met them both. Nice folks, but I vote for Steve.
ty
Runners like Steve Scott made the 4-minute mile common place.
Still there is a aura around Ryun that Scott does not have. Maybe it is because Ryun accomplished his feats at such a young age. Imagine somebody out of high school running and beating the worlds best. It just makes for a more interesting screenplay. It is fun watching those old grainy black and white videos of Ryun setting his records. It gives Ryun's career a short of old world feel.
Ryun bridged the gap from old world milers like Shell to 70's stars like Walker. In the 60's there was social, athletic, and rapid scientific changes being made. Ryun's world record mile showed that anything was possible in the modern world. Interestingly, enough Ryan world record telecast was one of the first to use digital numbers to record the athlete?s times on the air. If you look at track telecasts from the late fifties and early 60's they actually projected rotating number dials on the screen to post the runners splits. Ryun 3:51 mile symbolized both the athletic and technical progress of the mid to late 60s.
i know little of scott's history, other than 3:47, 8 under 3:50, and 140+ sub 4:00
how fast in high school? college? etc...any site with a good bio or anything?
Here is some "tape" of Ryun's WR... note his 1/2mi split. The guy is/was the BEST.
Go to Amazon and get his book. I believe Scott ran a 4:10 in HS.
I think I am going to order his book.
Check this Ryun tape out.
They are running the 68 trials in the woods.
Finally a Ryun tape in color.
Ryun ran that last lap in the trials in 50.8 - running half that lap in the 3rd and 4th lanes.
Ryun held WR's in the 880/1500/mile. Scott never did. Scott was never considered the best. He ran a few seconds faster, on much better tracks, better training, faster competition and who knows what else? Ryun and Elliot are two of the very few runners from way back when who would have been competitive today. Ryun's improvement curve mimics that of Cram's until Ryun made his premature retirement. He was never the same when he came back because he had a lot of other things to worry about besides running. Unlike Scott who was a running bum for a decade.
Any tape on Mel Sheppard's 1908 gold medal.
hmmm, Mel Sheppard....
Maybe the people at the Thomas Edison museum could help you here.
If sheppard is still alive he would be a ripe 120 years old.
That list must include road miles. In Steve Scott's Book it says he ran 136 sub4 miles on the track not including road miles or equivalent 1500s.
I would pick Scott. One thing you have to remember is that the US Boycotted the 1980 Olympics, which would of been a great chance for him to get and Olympic medal. He also had to race Coe, Ovett, and Cram. Not saying Ryun didnt run against anyone great but thoughs are three of the best milers in the world in history.