Bayi - 3:32.2 in 1974 - leading all the way. Has it ever really gotten any better than this?

I have to admit that whenever I see something an impressive performance like this and the guy is jumping around full of energy afterward it makes my spidey sense tingle. It’s not normal.

A superhuman effort like this is a hard thing.

Here are Bayi 1976 results. Obviously after boycott kicked in he ceased training. You decide for yourself.

worldathletics.org

Filbert BAYI | Profile | World Athletics

Link:worldathletics.org/athletes/tanzania/f...

Remember, Montreal had 3 competitive rounds. So blasting a 3:32 final was not realistic.

Bayi
54.9
57.3 1:52.2
58.6 2:50.8
55.4 last lap

No. It hasn't.

Not at 1500 anyway.

"The black shadows of Dixon and Walker..." LOL!

The '76 final would have involved extra rounds than the 1500m in Christchurch, which had only a heat and a final. If Bayi had been in Montreal and gone out as hard as he did in '74 he would have risked blowing up. He had done so before. However if he didn't push the pace fast enough he wouldn't have taken the sting out of Walker's superior kick. That would have been his dilemma.

I think that by late '75 and '76 Walker was the better runner. His mile record was considerably faster than Bayi's and his 2000m record was astonishing for that era. At 4.51x he took nearly 5 seconds off Jazy's record and it was only just beaten by Cram a decade later. Indeed, Walker ran the last 4 laps of the race in 3.52, which was only a second slower than Bayi's former world mile record. So, by Montreal, Walker had both the endurance and the speed to take Bayi.

If Bayi had been at Montreal I think the final would have been run in around 3.32-33, run to a similar pattern in Christchurch but not quite as quick over the first two laps, with Walker regaining contact with Bayi in the third lap (like Bannister reeling in Landy in Vancouver in '54) and emerging the convincing winner, with Bayi second and Coughlan - another miler - some way back in third. The race would have been too fast for the 800 guys like Van Damme.

But Bayi’s 1500m WR is superior to Walker’s mile WR time (3:49.4)

3:32.16 equates to 3:49.13 using the x 1.08 conversion that is generally used for comparing times between the 2 distances. The fact Bayi had no drafting in that Comm final also makes it even more impressive. Probably would have been a second faster had he a rabbit drafting him directly in front to 1000m, even given same pace distribution.
I do agree with you however, that by 76 Walker was the better runner. He was also more suited to 3 rounds in a championship scenario imo. That extra round makes a world of difference in the final.