What would be some of the worst performances to win the Olympic finals?
Centros 3:50 1500 in 2016 has to be up there.
What else?
What would be some of the worst performances to win the Olympic finals?
Centros 3:50 1500 in 2016 has to be up there.
What else?
Any race Mo Farah was in has to be considered.
Farah has won two of the fastest finals in the 10000 and 5000.
South Korea in Olympic baseball in 2008.
Steven Bradbury in short track speedskating.
The 1904 marathon was the worst performance in a running event.
Anyone who wins Olympic track gold is phenomenal.
Peter Rono's 3:35 1500m win in 1988 was worse than Centro's win where Centro ran the last 500m in 1:03, while holding off both the defending Olympic Champion and defending World Champion who were trying to chase him down.
In Rono's race, Coe (Oly Champ), Bile (World Champ) and Aouita (word Record holder) were all missing.
Cram was there but dealing with a calf injury.
Makhloufi and Kiprop were healthy and in the race where Centro won.
You can't just look at the winning time in a distance or middle distance race.
Kenteris winning the 2000 200m in 20.09 was pretty bad.
Definitely Centro.
Star wrote:
Peter Rono's 3:35 1500m win in 1988 was worse than Centro's win where Centro ran the last 500m in 1:03, while holding off both the defending Olympic Champion and defending World Champion who were trying to chase him down.
In Rono's race, Coe (Oly Champ), Bile (World Champ) and Aouita (word Record holder) were all missing.
Cram was there but dealing with a calf injury.
Makhloufi and Kiprop were healthy and in the race where Centro won.
You can't just look at the winning time in a distance or middle distance race.
Kenteris winning the 2000 200m in 20.09 was pretty bad.
This. There's a difference between "slowest time" and "worst performance."
Centro's performance was a great one, even if it was in a slow race. The goal of the world/olympic final is to win the race, not run the fastest time. At least that's how I look at it for distance events where tactics come into play. I would bet my left nut that all the guys in that race would have preferred to win that 2016 final in 4:00, than get 4th in 3:27. Just like all the guys who run the Monaco 15 would rather get 8th and run sub 3:30 than win in 3:34. That's my take.
That being said, off the top of my head, Kirani James' 400 gold medal in 2012 comes to mind. Not only was the time somewhat slow (like 43.9) but there was nobody else really great at the time in the race.
This might be blasphemy for the Brits here but Allan Wells won the 1980 Olympics in 10.25.
No USA in the meet due to the boycott. Don Quarrie (Jamaica) gets into a car crash and is a shell of himself after a silver in the 100 in 1976 and gold in the 200. Looks like a bunch of guys had their careers end in the late 70s, and the next big leap for the 100 was in 1983 (Calvin Smith). The USA guys were all pretty good and would've been major competition, though I think you could argue that Wells would've beat them. But a 10.25 is not very good.
Though it doesn't seem he was on the up-and-up either...suddenly becoming elite in mid-20s as a sprinter is suspect: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-32883944
Allan Wells 1980 Moscow 100m 10.25 with 1.2 following wind.
Slowest in last 60yrs.
Ain't 1857 wrote:
Allan Wells 1980 Moscow 100m 10.25 with 1.2 following wind.
Slowest in last 60yrs.
Yes, poor Wells had to be the best in the world in the short time span between amphetamines being made illegal and hgh coming on to the scene in 83 - which suddenly turned every top American sprinter into a sub 10 man.
Despite this,and suffering a slipped disc in his back in the weeks leading up to the Games, he eased up in a 10.11 in the quarter-finals on the slow Moscow track. In the final, he got off to an awful start - he never used starting blocks before the Moscow games, when they were suddenly made compulsory (one of a number of dirty tricks the Soviets used to try to prevent him from winning Gold).
Star wrote:
Peter Rono's 3:35 1500m win in 1988 was worse than Centro's win
One before that was slightly worse:
think first wrote:
Star wrote:
Peter Rono's 3:35 1500m win in 1988 was worse than Centro's win
One before that was slightly worse:
Sorry, it was quite much earlier. Pekka Vasala (Finland) won 1972 final in relatively modest 3:36, which also ended up being his lifetime PB.
Look how far down Wells was on Leonard at 50m. That was due to a sluggish start caused by his near total inexperience of using starting blocks. Doubt if there has ever been such a gap overturned in the second 50m in an Olympic 100m final. And Wells explosive start was his strength! Several days later he lost to doper Pietro Menea by 1/100th of a second, the same guy who had ran 19.72 the year before.
THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:
Though it doesn't seem he was on the up-and-up either...suddenly becoming elite in mid-20s as a sprinter is suspect:
When you've just taken up sprinting in your mid-twenties? I don't know if Wells took drugs, if he didn't he would have been exceptional for not doing so as a sprinter, then as now, but the only 'evidence' that he did so is the say so from a bitter and jealous Scottish rival (Cameron Sharpe).
STEVE THE ADDICT^^^^^^""""-""""-'-"--^' wrote:
South Korea in Olympic baseball in 2008.
This is the correct answer. Centro is nowhere near the top of the list.
Obviously Centrowitz. They dogged that race.