SEBASTIAN COE; The best of All Time

Martin,

I'm not so sure if it would be totally one sided even though I agree with you that Seb was better than Geb at

1500m/mile races for the most part.

I remember seeing Geb do a 3k/1500m double at the World Indoor Championships in 1999. Please correct if I am wrong here because I can get things mixed up at times.

What I remember being the most impressive about Geb in that championship was that after winning the 3k he went on and outsprinted Laban Rotich, a Kenyan who I think had ran under 3-30 for the 1500m. I never gave Geb a chance whilst watching the race but he still did it.

i found a real cool site devoted to coe!!

I don't know.

Probably Coe, but that 3:31 indoors is smoking. Of course I have no idea how often (or at all) Coe raced 1500m/mile indoors, but Geb is 2nd only to el Guerrouj.

Coe's speed is significantly better, maybe indoors would go to Geb, outdoors to Coe, but in either case it would be a hell of a race.

But you're right, Coe probably has the edge.

Utah Jamz Carl Malone wrote:

In my opinion, greatest range doesnt always mean greatest runner.

I still think that Coe was better because he was in a much more competetive era in his respective races than Geb was.

That is a laughable statement, you obviously have no concept of the quality of runners represented by Kiptanui, Tergat, Komen, Mourhit, Skah, and many others. Geb's era is/was, if anything, MORE competitive, and the difference between Geb and Coe is the manner in which he DOMINATED his foes. Coe, on the other hand, wasn't even the best runner from his own country most years during his career, and won his Olympic medals in boycott-depleted years.

The mile is my favorite event, but Geb is head and shoulders above any miler, ever.

What?! The 80's was full of at least 10 milers, who, if they all raced, could win on any given day. There were more sub 4:00's in the 80's than there were in the 90's.

You obviously have no concept of the quality of the runners represented by Coe, Cram, Aouita, Maree, Scott, Ovett, Elliott, the list goes on.

When Geb was in his prime, in the mid-late 90's, there was Komen and Tergat, and thats about it. There were some other guys that might challenge once in a while. Even if you think Geb was a better runner, his era at 5k/10k was not as competetive as Coe in the 1500/mile

Seb Coe is more handsome at age 47 than he was during his 20s, while Ovett currently looks like he might have a Fatty Liver.

Boycott depleted years?

Who, pray tell, was going to push Coe of the podium in either 1980 or 1984?

I might entertain the idea that Paige would have been in the mix (or perhaps James Robinson) in the Moscow 800m -- as would Scott in the 1500m, but since neither of those athletes EVER won ANY major championship, I can't accept that they would have bested Coe in an Olympic final at any distance.

As far as 1984 is concerned ... well, there was no one from the Soviet block that was even a threat to make the finals, let alone beat Coe, Cram or Abascal in the 1500m. This is equally true of the 800m.

Again, I think Geb's case as the best distance runner of all time is strong, but Coe's record in the middle distances is un-matched ... and is likely to remain so for many, many years.

Martin

I don't really get this white people looking for a "white hope" shit that everyone is trying to bring up. I'll stick to my original post that Seb Coe is the greatest of all time based on his perfomances years ago, that I believe translate to faster times in this era. And by the f***ing way, I am black, and yes I can look up to a white athlete that in my estimation is the best ever.

Who cares about times, an athlete is measured by winning Major Championship races. Nobody cares if Tiger Woods shoots 54 in a ho, hum tournament, he has to win the major tournaments. El Garuuge or what ever his name is runs 3:20 something but couldn't win the Olympics so his 3min 1500 is insignificant. I think rabbited races are f***ing boring and don't help to sell track.