Who is the best world miler/1500m runner EVER?

Living in the Past wrote:
Ovett avoided Coe, so there's no way Ovett can be considered number one. A champion doesn't duck his competitors. Plus he was cocky. He didn't run in Oslo at the Bislett Games in 1979 with other top milers like Walker, Coe, Coghlan, and Steve Scott. Instead of showing up to compete, Ovett derided the entire field by saying that whoever won the race would have a "hollow" victory since Ovett wasn't there.
Of course, Coe set a world record in the race.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,948501-1,00.html

In fact, Coe and Ovett never ran against each other from 1978 (EuroChamp in Prague) to 1980 (Oly Moscow) and from 1980 to 1984. Concerning the Bislett Games in 1979 it is amusing, I believe, to quote Walker, who was in the race:

"Steve Ovett, the unchallenged number one for the year, caused a stir when he said he would not run in Oslo and that without him, the race would be of little interest. Ovett’s outbursts never left much impression on me but Dixon reacted publicly, calling Ovett’s disregard for other runners objectionable. Ovett responded by saying that he admired Dixon and he could say what he wanted. Amid all the talk before Oslo, much of it from people who would not be running in the race, the fact that another Englishman, Sebastian Coe, had broken the 800 m world record a fortnight before seemed to escape notice. Coe was of a different breed to Ovett and although he too seemed to pick and choose races, he at least did it in a quieter manner.

What escaped even more notice was Coe a week after his world record ran a 400 m in northern England in 46.87 sec, which showed that he had all the speed necessary for a fast mile."

Romantic times, nothing to say.

Certainly it is wrong to give the impression that Ovett spent all those years denying Coe an opportunity to race him. Part of the "blame" goes to race directors, who wanted fast times. And consequently there would be two separate races, each with its own rabbit.

I agree that economics did play a part. However, the buzz back in those days, at least initially, was that Ovett was avoiding Coe so that he could still claim to be number one. I think there was a financial motive on the part of both athletes. Ovett had something to lose, and Coe had something to gain, by going head to head, at least in the beginning.

I recall a joint interview around 1989 with Steve Scott and Steve Ovett. Steve Scott took Ovett to task for cheating the sport out of a great rivalry. Neither Ovett nor Coe can claim the kind of courage that Ryun, Liquori, and Keino displayed. The earlier group usually seized the opportunity to race each other, even when they were not at 100 percent.

Fortunately for athletics, the Coe-Ovett two step has proved to be an anomaly. Later generations of milers realized that they had to race each other to be considered the best. Look at Aouita and Cram, for example.

Who is the best world miler/1500m runner EVER?

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