Sebastian Coe vs Said Aouita - 1500/mile race - Who would win?

Monaco gets the sea breeze down the back straight but no headwind up the home stretch. Fast times there are noticeably events 400m and longer not 100m, 110h or 200m or jumps. Rieti is similar if the tailwind is down the back straight, though this isn't all the time. When Ovett ran 3:30.77 it was a headwind down the back straight, whether it is 3:28 I'm not sure. Norman reckoned the wind that day was nothing. Monaco is on boards. Rieti maybe an illegal texture or concrete. Notice nobody points out Atlanta 1996, which everyone knows was dodgy? If Rieti was short ratification would have picked it up.

Thorbjorn wrote:

Why was this race so fast?!

Kiprop is just so amazing, looks almost supernatural.

He made everyone so excited - look at how they all happily congratulated him.

casual obsever wrote:

Thorbjorn wrote:

Why was this race so fast?!

Kiprop is just so amazing, looks almost supernatural.

He made everyone so excited - look at how they all happily congratulated him.

Oh no... no more drug talk lol.

casual obsever wrote:

Thorbjorn wrote:

Why was this race so fast?!

Kiprop is just so amazing, looks almost supernatural.

He made everyone so excited - look at how they all happily congratulated him.

Nick Willis was finishing very fast and he even had to go round someone. Looks like he could have gone maybe 1/2 second faster than he did.

In Rieti were set world records in the 100m, 800m, 1000m (still standing), 1500m, 1 Mile, 3000m (still standing)

Some athletes with lifetime personal bests set in Rieti:

Nesta Carter, Ryan Bailey, Mario Forsythe, Wilfred Bungei, Alfred Kirwa Yego, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, William Yiampoy, Boaz Lalang, José Luis Barbosa, Mehdi Baala , Benson Koech, William Tanui, Adam Kszczot, Nixon Kiprotich, Philip Kibitok, William Wuyke, Robert Kibet, Khadevis Robinson, Atle Douglas, Andrea Longo, Edwin Kiplagat Melly, Sebastian Coe, Abdi Bile, Steve Ovett, Tarek Boukensa, Johan Cronje, Vincent Kibet, Elijah Kipruto Maru, David Kibet, Jens-Peter Herold, Gennaro Di Napoli, Moses Kigen, Martin Keino, Noureddine Morceli, Sydney Maree (2x), Alex Kipchirchir, Robert Rono, Robert Nemeth, Julius Kiptoo, Adrian Blincoe, Thomas Nyariki, Noah Ngeny, William Yiampoy, Djabir Said-Guerni, James McIlroy, Steve Holman, Tariku Bekele, Issac Songok, Bernard Lagat, Sileshi Sihine, Joseph Kiplimo, Sammy Alex Mutahi, Abreham Cherkos, Silas Kipruto, John Kipkoech, Deresse Mekonnen, Stephen Kipkorir, Wodajo Bulti, António Leitão, Hansjörg Kunze, Valeriy Abramov, Philip Barkutwo, Ramiro Morán, Vania Stambolova, Kaliese Spencer, Faith Kipyegon, Maryam Yusuf Jamal, Yekaterina Podkopayeva, Natalya Yevdokimova, Natalia Rodríguez(2x), Gelete Burka, Nuria Fernández, Irina Lishchinskaya, Natalya Tobias, Erin Donohue, Kara Goucher, Sylvia Kibet, Linet Masai, Salome Chepchumba

Athletes with 2nd fastest time set in Rieti:

Asafa Powell, Joseph Mutua Mwengi, David Kiptoo Singoei, Bram Som, Sammy Kibet Langat, Benjamin Kipkurui, Daniel Komen, Vénuste Niyongabo, Paul Bitok, Edwin Cheruiyot Soi, Boniface Songok, Moses Kiptanui, Noureddine Morceli, Fernando Mamede, Thomas Wessinghage, Alberto Cova, Ilie Floroiu, Irina Privalova, Novlene Williams-Mills, Yuliya Chizhenko, Tatyana Tomashova, Mimi Belete, Hind Dehiba, Maricica Puica, Maryam Yusuf Jamal, Shannon Rowbury, Lisa Dobriskey, Brigitte Kraus, Vivian Cheruiyot, Priscah Cherono, Kim Smith, Tirunesh Dibaba, Dorcus Inzikuru, Korene Hinds

It would be not difficult to find more names...

Many more athletes came very close to their PB in Rieti - but, hey, since these lists include the gods Coe, Cram and Ovett, there can't be something special with this track. One of the best arguments listed so far to back up the "British Theory" that there isn't something special with Rieti: not every athlete has set a PB in Rieti! Also the date in early September was used as an argument FOR fast times...

Rieti has seen some very special times in practically every year since 1981 (fast times were already set in the 1970s) until the meeting was canceld.

Add David Rudisha to the 2nd list...

Coevett wrote:

Nick Willis was finishing very fast and he even had to go round someone. Looks like he could have gone maybe 1/2 second faster than he did.

1/2 second? Based on what? Passing this athlete cost him 2/100, at most.

Subway Surfers wrote:

Deanouk wrote:

Coe never tried to run a fast time earlier in the 86 season. 3:34 in Berne and 3:35 in Zurich were races and tune ups for Europeans.

Ran a 1:44.5 in Stuttgart in wet, cold and windy conditions, running 10m extra wide. Worth 1:43.2 with a 24. 5 last 200m, so was clearly in 1:42 form.

Deanouk, you're a smart chap, tell me as an aside if I do tempo runs in lane 5 how many Metres per lap am I running extra? Just checking the accuracy of my gps.

Hi,

If it is a conventional 400m track with lanes 1.22m wide and the bends are 115.61m each and the straights 84.39m each, then the extra distance run 30cm into lane 5 from the finish line to finish line will be c. 30.66m. Therefore you'd run 430m each circuit in lane 5.

The track is measured 30cm from the curb in lane 1, and the radius of each curve is 36.8m

If you run both bends 30cm from inside of curb, that equates to 231.22m, or 115.61m per bend.

If you run both bends 30cm outside of line between lanes 1 and 2, that is at a radius of an extra 1.22m.

2 Pi R would be = 2 x 3.14... x 38.02 (36.8 + 1.22) = 238.89m or 119.44 m per bend.

So, someone running 1 bend 30cm into lane 2, is running an extra 3.83m.

For lane 5 it would be 36.8 + (4 x 1.22m) = 41.68

41.68 x 2 x Pi = 261.88m

261.88 - 231.22m = 30.66m.

Hope that helps.

stating the obvious2 wrote:

Coevett wrote:

Nick Willis was finishing very fast and he even had to go round someone. Looks like he could have gone maybe 1/2 second faster than he did.

1/2 second? Based on what? Passing this athlete cost him 2/100, at most.

Bull. He's actually blocked when finishing like a freight train and has to slow down then squeeze through a gap while moving to the right, then resumes his sprint finish. Watching it again, I'd say he would have broken Cacho's non-African record if he'd had a clear run or perhaps had been at the front of the chasing pack earlier.

Willis should have kept the shaven head look.

That's what has happened in your wet dreams. 3/4 of a second? Just comical. Willis at most lost a few hundreds, very few.

Deanouk wrote:

Hi,

If it is a conventional 400m track with lanes 1.22m wide and the bends are 115.61m each and the straights 84.39m each, then the extra distance run 30cm into lane 5 from the finish line to finish line will be c. 30.66m. Therefore you'd run 430m each circuit in lane 5.

The track is measured 30cm from the curb in lane 1, and the radius of each curve is 36.8m

If you run both bends 30cm from inside of curb, that equates to 231.22m, or 115.61m per bend.

If you run both bends 30cm outside of line between lanes 1 and 2, that is at a radius of an extra 1.22m.

2 Pi R would be = 2 x 3.14... x 38.02 (36.8 + 1.22) = 238.89m or 119.44 m per bend.

So, someone running 1 bend 30cm into lane 2, is running an extra 3.83m.

For lane 5 it would be 36.8 + (4 x 1.22m) = 41.68

41.68 x 2 x Pi = 261.88m

261.88 - 231.22m = 30.66m.

Hope that helps.

Excellent, it certainly does. This old jogger did 8km hard on the track and thought he would finish with 2 x 1km to bring up 10km (preparing for a 10km fun run but only did one in the end, lol) and after 2 laps and about 140m in lane 5 the gps (lanes 1-3 are closed) said I had run 1km and it had bugged me since. Might be reasonably accurate after all. I knew you would know. ?

80s fan wrote:

Aouita had a he very heavy leg injury in 1988 that would have felled most world class runners yet he still soldiered on and managed a bronze over 800m behind 2 of the all time great specialists at the distance - Cruz and Ereng. That performance still blows my mind to this day. But I agree with you in that Ialso think he was on drugs - I feel that Ben Johnson was scapegoat in 1988.

I have always felt it likely that Coe was on drugs...more likely than Aouita.

Rieti has had 11 times the fastest 800m of the year:

1986, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011

A small meeting in early September. Zürich - for eample - has had 5 times the years fastest 800m. The biggest meeting for decades and starting mich earlier than Rieti.

It's obvious that the times achieved in Rieti should be considered with the same scepticism as the times from Monaco in the last decade. Ovett's 3:30.77 and Coe's 3:29.77 are probably worth something around 3:32 high and 3:31 high. Ovett himself was the one astonished the most by his time.

Is Deanouk the new Calculo? (though a more benevolent and nicer version).

Changing of the guard wrote:

Subway Surfers wrote:

Excellent, it certainly does. This old jogger did 8km hard on the track and thought he would finish with 2 x 1km to bring up 10km (preparing for a 10km fun run but only did one in the end, lol) and after 2 laps and about 140m in lane 5 the gps (lanes 1-3 are closed) said I had run 1km and it had bugged me since. Might be reasonably accurate after all. I knew you would know. ?

Is Deanouk the new Calculo? (though a more benevolent and nicer version).

2 x Pi x (4 x 1.22m) = 30.66m

restrunner wrote:

In Rieti were set world records in the 100m, 800m, 1000m (still standing), 1500m, 1 Mile, 3000m (still standing)

Maricica Puica 4:17.44 wr in the Mile in 1982.

Puica wrote:

restrunner wrote:

In Rieti were set world records in the 100m, 800m, 1000m (still standing), 1500m, 1 Mile, 3000m (still standing)

Maricica Puica 4:17.44 wr in the Mile in 1982.

Clean?

J. Michael Fox wrote:

Puica wrote:

Maricica Puica 4:17.44 wr in the Mile in 1982.

Clean?

It was reported that she used the washroom before the race.

restrunner wrote:

Ovett's 3:30.77 and Coe's 3:29.77 are probably worth something around 3:32 high and 3:31 high. Ovett himself was the one astonished the most by his time.

Ngeny's 1k mark of 2:11.96 seems to be worth around 2:13. Coe still could be the WR holder for the 1k - almost 4 decades after he has set the record.