What is the greatest under dog victory in the history of track and field?

Nevertheless, Ngugi's a major scalp. And I'm gonna bet Lloyd was never that big, so that makes him an underdog, and that was a hell of a close, so yeah, very impressive clip.

Thanks for sharing.

That was awesome. The announcers were so excited.

Ngugi was also a drug cheat who was banned after refusing to take a test. Basically an admission of guilt.

Horace Ashenfelter '52 OG Steeple

Mike Powell over Carl Lewis in the LJ at the '91 WCs

Drugs or not...Mary Decker over the Russians in the 1500 and 3000 at the '83 WCs.

Ghost of WCs Past wrote:

Drugs or not...Mary Decker over the Russians in the 1500 and 3000 at the '83 WCs.

Yeah, right. No matter how doped she may or may not have been, they wrote the book on it, so she certainly had no competitive advantage there. Still don't think it's as big an upset as Mills, but a huge one nonetheless.

Duh. Billy Mills

Maggie Vessey at PRE!...."OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great Britain winning the 4x100 in Athens 2004. I know its the relay so anything can happen with change overs etc but no one expected Lewis-Francis to hold of Mo Greene on that last leg.

Great Britain over US again in 1991 4x400. Epic battle.

Kenny Harrison over Jonathan Edwards, triple jump Atlanta 1996.

Cacho wining the 1500 at Barcelona also sprung to mind. It was a very early athletic memory though so can't remember how much of an outsider he was.

nice race/finish by Lloyd, but I am pretty sure Schul was picked by TFN and SI to win the Oly 5k. His 64 season was without a defeat, however, if memory serves. He had broken the WR in the 2m (which was a more frequently run and respected event than now). One of the highlighted of my running 'career' was witnessing that. I am convinced that Schul had never gotten the recognition he deserves for that huge win. I know he was a bit miffed that he wasn't given more deference coming into the games, by some observers. He had beaten Ron Clarke several times and other major players of that year/time.

But underdog status - I gotta give it to the much more celebrated Mills 10k.

Oh - I see someone (Huntington) has mentioned Shul's exploits in '64.

Some others mentioned I would put in top 5

'Great Britain over US again in 1991 4x400. Epic battle'

Last leg: a hurdler who couldn't get into the 400m team against the just crowned 400m champion

pv runner wrote:

I agree on Mills in the 10000 in 1964, and ironically the one that comes close is not Wottle (thrilling race but not much of an upset), but the entirely forgotten gold medal by Bob Schul of the US in the 5000 at the same 64 Olympics. In the final, Schul beat defending 5000 gold medalist Murray Halberg and future 5000 world record holders Ron Clarke (3 times WR) and Kipchoge Keino, as well as mile world record holder Michel Jazy. A stronger, deeper field than Mills had to face in the 10000, but the come-from-behind victory (as with Wottle) is always the one remembered.

Bob Schul came into that race with the World Record in the 2 mile and the fastest time in the world in the 5000.

That was not an upset. He WAS the favorite.

Mexan Texan wrote:

Raptured wrote:

LOOK AT MILLS!

+1

That or Wottle.

Wottle had set a world record in the 800 at the US Olympic trials. Great race yes, but to call the dude who recently set the world record an underdog is a bit much.

Flagpole wrote:

Mexan Texan wrote:

+1

That or Wottle.

Wottle had set a world record in the 800 at the US Olympic trials. Great race yes, but to call the dude who recently set the world record an underdog is a bit much.

Ok, I see that several said that already.

So what ! I'll say it again - Billy Mills ! The announcer adds to the legend with his memorable call of the race. He was going about as bonkers as any knowledgable viewer of that race would be expected to. Easy call - Mills !

Ulrike Meyfarth qualified for OG as 3rd German. Set a PB to win Olympic gold and was only 16.

RuKiddingMe!! wrote:

did she win?

Watch Debbie Heald's race here.

youtube.com/#/watch?v=LrvJ2bsFduY&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DLrvJ2bsFduY

Raptured wrote:

LOOK AT MILLS!

^^^^^^^ This one is obviously the best.

Delano Merriweather 1971 US 100 meter champion---the biggest underdog win ever......so big that none of you have ever heard of him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delano_Meriwether

g_d

ITT: People who think the marathon is part of track and field.

(I know someone will make the lapped-then-won-in-a-marathon-on-a-track joke now...)