20-years ago was Magic Monday in Sydney. Was that the greatest night in athletics history?

Was there at Stadium Australia that night. Was an incredible evening but the men's Discus was the best field event I've ever watched.

OG Coconino Cowboy wrote:

Was there at Stadium Australia that night. Was an incredible evening but the men's Discus was the best field event I've ever watched.

73.88 that same year, the clean world record

I was in the stadium too. Not only was it a great night for competion, it was a world record for the largest crowd at an Olympic event,(111 000)

As an Aussie, Cathys win was the bets sporting moment I have ever experienced

And Geb and Tergat 10k was the best head to head contest Ive seen (pity half the stadium had left by then)

mr. nice guy wrote:

OG Coconino Cowboy wrote:

Was there at Stadium Australia that night. Was an incredible evening but the men's Discus was the best field event I've ever watched.

73.88 that same year, the clean world record

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/u2ISMUdUloYtbbyQmTCkdpGUpAUmZz10q1rGUASKquviUU8yQzKGATPs6zGyzlQP7BaZXPDmrhnrPDmOdJtAIIVDhtUSc6fbhmaFXVL_auWghkAnFGOfY_CgmVRw0g=w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu

I had second row seats for the discus trials earlier. After Alekna (6'6"/290), Kruger (6'10"/275ish), and Reidel (6'8"/275ish) all hit the qualifier and were being escorted back to holding right past my seat, I was shocked at how enormous these guy really are. They looked like the front court of an NBA team.

Magic Monday was just sick! Sydney Games in general were awesome.

Over 50's Aussie guy wrote:

And Geb and Tergat 10k was the best head to head contest Ive seen (pity half the stadium had left by then)

Do you remember what time the events were held locally? I remember watching Cathy Freeman but know I didn't watch Geb vs Tergat here in the US live. I was a school teacher at the time and assume I didn't want to stay up that late? Or is it possible it wasn't even broadcast live in the US?

Runners Tribe has an interestring article on Magic Monday. Two things struck me from the article.

1) It mentions that Athletics Weekly called it the greatest night in athletics history shortly after it took place.

2) They also point out that Magic Monday isn't possible without Tranquil Tuesday (a total day off).

There are no longer any days off. What do you all think? Which is better a few amazing days with days off or spread things out over the whole 10-11 days?

LetsRun.com wrote:

20 years ago today, Magic Monday took place in Sydney. Unlike now where the finals are spaced out, in Sydney Magic Monday featured 9 finals in one night. It started with the first Olympic women's pole vault (Stacy Dragila) and ended with Haile G vs Paul Tergat in the 10k. In the middle was the most iconic moment of the Games - Cathy Freeman's gold in the 400.

World Athletics has a feature up on its website about the night nd its headline states it as fact that it was the greatest night in Athletics history as it's entitled, "Remembering Magic Monday, the greatest night in athletics history" but the article leaves it open to debate as it says, "enraptured the world with what is widely regarded as one of the most thrilling nights in athletics history."

LRC historians, what do you think?

No.

Most people don't remember this.

The greatest date - May 25, 1935

Would anyone have a link for the full race of the women's 5k? Used to be on YouTube with Steve Cram's commentary but has since disappeared. Would love to see Sonia winning the silver again, thanks.

I was in the LA Coliseum on 8/11 in 1984 and it was pretty good too, as I watched :

1. Seb Coe become the only man to defend a 1500 Olympic championship over Steve Ovett, Steve Cram and Steve Scott in an OR time.

2. Carl Lewis anchor the 4x100 in WR time to win a fourth gold in one Olympics

3. Said Aouita win the 5,000 gold in OR time over John Walker and then-WR holder Dave Moorcroft

4. the US men win the 4x400 gold

5. women's 100 gold medalist Evelyn Ashford anchor the women's 4x100 to a gold medal

6. the US women win the 4x400 gold

7. the men's high jump final

8. women's discus final

I'm just saying, Alekna could have been the usain bolt of that quite irrelevant event (t&f news picked him as 2nd best athlete of the decade behind bekele due to his stats and dominance despite, as I said, that it's a niche event) because:

Alekna threw 73.88 (20 cm short of the doped german 'record') 3-4 weeks before sydney, got a pretty bad injury a week or so later, still won the olympics injured with 69.xx

had 5 straight 70+ meter seasons, flanked from both sides by 31 and 41cm short of 70

total 8 70+ meter seasons

threw 70.xx aged 40

won every golden/diamond league he entered

was a bit of a late bloomer and still had 7 years of total dominance

had to make ends meet in a regular job (also has done some strongman stuff) instead of professional full time training

Sometimes in life you get to be a the right place at the right time. When I went in to the ballet for tickets to this night all i cared about was the 10k and what a race it was. The real moment though was Cathy Freeman winning the 400m only 10 days after lighting the Olympic Cauldron. She is still to this day the only Aboriginal Female to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics. Met Cathy for an interview this week. What an amazing woman.

20 years ago today, Vince Carter dunked OVER Frederick Weiss, maybe the greatest dunk ever.

rojo wrote:

Do you remember what time the events were held locally? I remember watching Cathy Freeman but know I didn't watch Geb vs Tergat here in the US live. I was a school teacher at the time and assume I didn't want to stay up that late? Or is it possible it wasn't even broadcast live in the US?

I was there as well, but I don't remember the time of the race. Last event of the night so maybe 9-9:30pm or so?

zbt wrote:

I was in the LA Coliseum on 8/11 in 1984 and it was pretty good too, as I watched :

1. Seb Coe become the only man to defend a 1500 Olympic championship over Steve Ovett, Steve Cram and Steve Scott in an OR time.

2. Carl Lewis anchor the 4x100 in WR time to win a fourth gold in one Olympics

3. Said Aouita win the 5,000 gold in OR time over John Walker and then-WR holder Dave Moorcroft

4. the US men win the 4x400 gold

5. women's 100 gold medalist Evelyn Ashford anchor the women's 4x100 to a gold medal

6. the US women win the 4x400 gold

7. the men's high jump final

8. women's discus final

Bam ?. I agree.

There was also this, for sprinters:

I wasnt there that night, but got tickets to another night. Not even sure which one now.

All I remember is the arsehole organisers swapped things around at the last minute (or weeks?). I think it was to get the 400 & Cathy on a more exciting night.

So they moved the mens 1500m final away from my ticketed night. This was after choosing that night a year prior so I could watch that race & paying mad coin for it too.

Still sooky about it.

zbt wrote:

I was in the LA Coliseum on 8/11 in 1984 and it was pretty good too, as I watched :

1. Seb Coe become the only man to defend a 1500 Olympic championship over Steve Ovett, Steve Cram and Steve Scott in an OR time.

2. Carl Lewis anchor the 4x100 in WR time to win a fourth gold in one Olympics

3. Said Aouita win the 5,000 gold in OR time over John Walker and then-WR holder Dave Moorcroft

4. the US men win the 4x400 gold

5. women's 100 gold medalist Evelyn Ashford anchor the women's 4x100 to a gold medal

6. the US women win the 4x400 gold

7. the men's high jump final

8. women's discus final

bingo!--I thought of this day in LA right away as the only other Olympic track day that could compare to that Monday in Sydney---seemed like the US romped in every relay (though the East Bloc Boycott helped with that!)

Takes five seconds to find the time by googling “sydney olympics schedule.”