Which British runner had a 4 - 0 winning record against Said Aouita?

Subway Surfers wrote:

I'll bet you that it wasn't Cram in 1983 that scared Aouita off running the 1500m in LA (1984) it was the last lap of Ovett. Ovett ran horribly in that race and if Aouita's team sat down and watch a reply they would've concluded that he couldn't beat an Ovett in similar shape in a better position and then there was the possibility of Coe having an even better kick.

I am sure he was worried about all 3 and then figured that even guys like Scott could have a good day. Then he looked at the 5000m field and said it is a ton weaker.

I never said that Aouita was a better 'middle distance runner' than Cram! Over the pure events from 800 to 1 mile, Cram clearly achieved more.

I only got involved in this thread because of the various inaccurate stats being bandied about which were clearly wrong. Those inaccuracies were not aimed at anyone in particular, although UKathleteicscoach seems to have a bee in his bonnet as I replied to his post.

RE Cram in 85, I followed his season then and have read accounts of it since, but he was in great form by Nice, having run an effortless 3:31 just 3 weeks earlier. Yes he was beaten by McKean in between, in a very slow kicker's race, where Cram underestimated McKean's speed in the last 100m, as he was then a somewhat unknown quantity. Remember, he was beaten again by McKean the next year at the Europpeans, when Cram was in similar great shape. Coe also lost to McKean in 88 and 89, in slow races, so it was no shame to be beaten by him in a 1:47 800m race.

Cram chose to err on the side of caution by pulling out of the AAA 800m final, after qualifying with a victory. The Nice race was only 3 days later, so it is unlikely that Cram was properly injured, but rather decided to save himself for the more important Nice race.

Yes, Cram suffered with injuries (mainly problems with his calf) throughout his career, but he said that they were more like 'niggles', which still allowed him to train. He just had to be careful not to run in too many races. This was true of 85, although he is on record as saying that he was able to have more intense training during that season than many others, hence (perhaps) his great form. I agree with you that he was better in Oslo (mile, at end of July) than in Nice, but I don't think it is totally accurate to suggest he was in anything other than very good form (and close to his very best) in Nice.

With regards to Elliott, of course his career over 800m is more impressive than Aouita's, but I think it's misleading to call him a 1:42 runner, when his pb was 1:42.97. Yes, technically he is a 1:42 man, but generally times were rounded to nearest tenth, so more like a 1:43.0 man. I personally think Aouita was capable of much faster than his 1:43.86 best, certainly capable of 1:43 low.

Of course Aouita is a controversial figure with some evidence that he may have doped, but putting that to one side, he showed some incredible form over 1500m in Nice and over 800m in Seoul.

Happy New Year to all posters on LetsRun.

I doubt if any runner ever had a 4 -0 head to head with Aouita, and the reason for that is he dodged anybody likely to beat him throughout his career, using his 'extraordinary range' to avoid races at their distance.

Cram would have had a 4-0 record against Aouita if Aouita hadn't dodged him after Nice, and taken part in the Dream Mile that year. Coe would likely have beaten him every time. Unfortunately, before he moved to Italy in 1982 at 23 for the 'special methods', he wasn't good enough for the main European circuit, otherwise he would have lost to Ovett, Coe, Cram. Scott, Walker countless times between 1979 and 1982.

Maybe Morcelli had a 4-0 or better record against him? Even in the last years of his career, when he was losing a good few, he probably was still trying to dodge anybody who could beat him.

It's a little known fact here (and I've posted the article before - can't find it now) that the Golden League (predecessor of the Diamond League) was set up for the very reason to prevent athletes like Aouita from avoiding their rivals on the circuit. His dodging of opponents was actually the inspiration for today's Diamond League.

None of you worked it out yet?

Coevett please to say that Aouita was dodging Brits but he know that's not true.

He made some choices in Worlds/Olympics for medals:

1) 1984 : a first historic Gold Olympic Gold medal was in play.

According to Aouita interview, he didn't deceive King Hassan II because he promised him a year before an Olympic Gold medal.

2) 1987: that year saw his worldwide consecration as the first man in history to run under 13mins in the 5000m and that was hot.

If there was a choice at that time for a double 1500m/5000m he would have done it.

3) It's a well known fact that British runners play the "virtuous princes" each living in his own kingdom. They were avoiding each other. How many time Coe, Ovett, Cram were facing each other.

4) Aouita encountered the American champion Sidney Maree (and the other New Zealandais champion I forgot his times) like 10 times. Why this didn't happens with the Brits?

Sidney Maree even failed closely to stole the WR of the 5000m in 1985.

5) I give freely a win 4-0 of Aouita against the Brits simply because he was the main cause of their disparition starting end 80s and that dated for more like 30 years.

Name any 80s runner aside from Said Aouita who is obsessed over on the LR board this much.