Wilson Kipketer 1:43.88 ? Where and when?

From

www.iaaf.org

. I listened to the race on internet BBC radio (as you can for most Golden League meets), he came from behind in the last 200m as usual in this race, he'll be tough to beat this year.

Golden Gala - Roma (ITA)Friday, July 02, 2004

Official Result

Men - 800m - Race 1

Pos Athlete Nat Mark

1 Kipketer Wilson DEN 1:43.88

2 Sepeng Hezekiél RSA 1:43.94

3 Borzakovskiy Yuriy RUS 1:44.19

4 Longo Andrea ITA 1:44.42

5 Lacasse Florent FRA 1:44.48

6 Jansen Joeri BEL 1:44.48

7 Bungei Wilfred KEN 1:44.54

8 Koech Justus KEN 1:44.99

9 Saïd-Guerni Djabir ALG 1:45.10

10 Laalou Amine MAR 1:45.26

11 Bucher André SUI 1:46.80

Rotich Henry KEN DNF

Frankly, if anyone says they have a good prediction for the 800 in Athens, they're lying. Any one of 6 or 7 people could take it. I'm pulling for Kipketer, just because I think he's the greatest 800 runner ever, and his '96 season, when he wasn't allowed to run in Atlanta but ripped up Europe still amazes me.

runrunrunrunrunrun wrote:

Frankly, if anyone says they have a good prediction for the 800 in Athens, they're lying. Any one of 6 or 7 people could take it. I'm pulling for Kipketer, just because I think he's the greatest 800 runner ever, and his '96 season, when he wasn't allowed to run in Atlanta but ripped up Europe still amazes me.

Greatest ever... thats a thread in and of itself. Right now I rank him behind Coe, because neither have a gold, Coe had a couple silvers, but Coe did that while winning two 1500 meter Oly titles. For that matter I also rank him behind Cruz, who won gold in the best era of mid-distance running against the deepest pool of competition.

How come he wasn't allowed to compete in Atlanta?

Yeah, Kipketer still amazes me, he has been running fairly decent after his WR in '97

However, at one point I thought he was done, but I guess not... I wonder how long he can keep competing

Juantorena... Oly champ and won the 400 at the same Olympics... thats a hell of an accomplishment. Not to mention a world record in the process.

As of now, you're definitely right in that Kipketer is behind Coe in accomplishments, but I really feel Kipketer would have dominated in Atlanta, especially since the pace was hot, which is to his liking. Just based on accomplishments alone (and with an effort to correct for some bias on my part), my ranking of the top 10 of the modern (post-WW-II era) in the 8:

1. Seb Coe

2. Wilson Kipketer

3. Peter Snell

4. Mal Whitfield

5. Alberto Juantorena

6. Joaquim Cruz

7. Dave Wottle

8. Ralph Doubell

9. Roger Moens

10. Arthur Wint

Most won't agree with my ranking, but that's probably just because of a differing definition of what constitutes greatness. And even if you don't accept my ranking, you've got to marvel at the variety of countries represented. That's part of the reason why I love the 8; even in the era of Kenyan dominance, Europeans, South Americans and even Americans can compete.

Include Steve Ovett in that mix and you have a good ranking. Tinman

Tinman wrote:

Include Steve Ovett in that mix and you have a good ranking. Tinman

I have Ovett just off the top 10; he didn't focus on the 8 enough to make it.

yes

One should remember that Wilson Kipketer contracted malaria which has all but destroyed his career.

Kipketer himself has said that he has to make do with what he has been left with. His outlook and approach to his running is very different now and has even attended coaching courses.

Who knows maybe he will become a coach after the Olympics?

Sadly we never got to see his true potential