Yes. I'm a huge Seb fan and have been since 1979. I was a NY morning paper delivery kid and I remember walking out of my house that morning, opening the paper and thinking that the 1:41.73 was a TYPO !!
As far as I remember, it was Coe who was pushing for a reset of the world records (including the EPO era WRs). Kratchilova was one of the athletes objecting to it most vociferously, along with El G.
The GDR records should be removed, because it's proven beyond doubt that there was a massive state sponsored doping program there (Rekrunner will probably come in now).
Both the West and East German athletes were held down by their western Euro and Soviet overlords. They knew Germans are inherently the best athletes, but they must never be allowed to win or next they'll be launching another war. It would take ten times as much dope for a westerner or Soviet to run as fast as Marita Koch.
German reunification was a big mistake. East Germany needs to be recreated and given back to Russian control along with Poland. Poland hasn't been a real country for at least 200 years anyhow.
Plus, it's obviously self-evident when times from 40 years ago are still competitive today after all our advancements, how doped to the gills the athletes back then were. Draw the line at 1989, and done. Or 1999, when WADA started. Or 2009, when the ABP started. Or 2017, when the AIU started.
As for the GDR. Sure their records should get wiped, but where do you draw the line? The Soviet Union and several other Soviet Block members had state-sponsored doping also, and parts of the West, most evidently BRD and USA, had state-protected doping.
I agree. The greatest value of the 47.60 is watching the tape and grasping the absurdity that it can be broken, including the nutcase claims regarding Sydney McLaughlin last year.
It would have to be at altitude and a freakish situation, as you described.
BTW, there is a swimming example of that. Sarah Sjostrom in 2014 took the women's 50 butterfly world record all the way down from 25.07 to 24.43. It hasn't been threatened subsequently and isn't expected to go down within the next 30+ years. Sjostrom remains the only female ever to go under 25 seconds. She has done it roughly 30 times. The world record was an outdoor pool with huge tailwind. Unlike track, there isn't a wind consideration in swimming.
Regarding the women's 400 meters world record, it's been noted before, but Canberra really does have some altitude/thinner air. Marita didn't have to run rounds. Olga was in the form of her life, behind Marita and P.T. Usha had been close to breaking 52 seconds. Clearly re-claiming the world record was massive motivation for Marita. ...and it was The World Cup...which was big back then. ...and also all of the East German's were using optimal amounts of drugs, because urine tests could be easily cheated and there were no blood tests yet. . Finally, I think Marita knew by then, that she'd likely have retired by 2000 - and wanted to set a 400 meter world record IN Australia, in the vain hope that she'd be remembered by Aussies, when Cathy Freeman won the gold at the 2000 Olympics in 49.11 seconds. - Of course Marita seems to have been naturally-gifted too and well-trained. She started under Wolfgang Meier at 15 and he chased her around Rostock. Meier was previously a naval engineer and was always asking Marita about her belly-button. They eventually married in early 1987 and unfortunately Marita badly injured her achillies during their honey-moon in Dresden, and had to retire. They went on to have a daughter Ulrike, who is a cancer..
The effect of thinner air at 600m elevation is marginal, although it was dead calm that day. The track surface then was rekortan (sp?) I believe, since then it's been replaced with the faster for sprinting Mondo, perhaps Koch would have run 47.50 or faster on today's tracks.
Jarmila K wasn't East German, but she was just as dirty as they were.
Maybe Jamila Kratochvilova was DSD like Caster Semenya and Brittney Griner, Probably can run fast when they are DSD without cheating, Just a Genitic Abnormality that gives them an Advantage in sports, but puts them at a disadvantage is social situations, just the Voice of Semenya or Griner would make men not consider them for a date, relationship or marriage. Those 2 are Lesbian so it probably does not matter to them, but if they liked males they would be victims of Voice Discrimination most of the time, I would guess
Regarding the women's 400 meters world record, it's been noted before, but Canberra really does have some altitude/thinner air. Marita didn't have to run rounds. Olga was in the form of her life, behind Marita and P.T. Usha had been close to breaking 52 seconds. Clearly re-claiming the world record was massive motivation for Marita. ...and it was The World Cup...which was big back then. ...and also all of the East German's were using optimal amounts of drugs, because urine tests could be easily cheated and there were no blood tests yet. . Finally, I think Marita knew by then, that she'd likely have retired by 2000 - and wanted to set a 400 meter world record IN Australia, in the vain hope that she'd be remembered by Aussies, when Cathy Freeman won the gold at the 2000 Olympics in 49.11 seconds. - Of course Marita seems to have been naturally-gifted too and well-trained. She started under Wolfgang Meier at 15 and he chased her around Rostock. Meier was previously a naval engineer and was always asking Marita about her belly-button. They eventually married in early 1987 and unfortunately Marita badly injured her achillies during their honey-moon in Dresden, and had to retire. They went on to have a daughter Ulrike, who is a cancer..
The effect of thinner air at 600m elevation is marginal, although it was dead calm that day. The track surface then was rekortan (sp?) I believe, since then it's been replaced with the faster for sprinting Mondo, perhaps Koch would have run 47.50 or faster on today's tracks.
...and hundredths of seconds are marginal. ...but a big clue to me...that altitude or something was going on up in Canberra, was Vladykina's performance in the same race. Just 22 years old...2 years away from her World Championship gold, 3 from her Olympic gold - at the 1988 Olympics no less - same Olympics where she out-ran Florence Griffith-Joyner !! ...7 years away from her Olympic Silver etc etc - YET...at 22, in Canberra, Olga ran easily her fastest ever 400 meters time. ...as did Marita - also by a huge margin. I don't know about the wind in the 400 or the surface, but I do know that the whole track is gone now, gone with the wind.
Or was it all a coincidence that they were faster 25 years ago?
Ashford and Brisco are now in their mid-60's and it does not surprise me that they were faster 25 years ago. Evelyn Ashford probably had to really fast, to get to back to racing weight, after her mid-career baby, with Pat Connolly.
Probably not, but using 1989 as the cut off point means there was a different standard to the drug testing than before that point.
How do you value those given numbers?
I see that even in 2024, Evelyn Ashford still holds the 60 yard record. Whereas Sha'Carri Richardson-Mitchell only has 2 yards, front & back, plus a small atrium next to her walk-in shower. (I imagine)