Avocado's Number wrote:
Hayduke wrote:5. Wottle
6. Kipketer(even trouble putting him here... no Gold)
That's a rather jarring juxtaposition. Wottle had one of the all-time great TV moments, but Kipketer dominated an era, and with much faster times. (I wonder where you would rank Olympic medalless Paula Radcliffe among female marathoners. And how do you justify your second-place ranking of Coe, who also never won an Olympic 800m gold?)
s.
The argument or dominating era's is taken out due to professional running being either new or non existant for such a long time. Wottle broke the world record and won olympic gold as a pure amateur. Kipketer ran in an era of pure professionalism where someone who didn't even make the podium could earn a living and never doubled up at the olympics like Coe, Wottle, Juantorena, and Snell. Coe was in an era that was inbetween amateur and pro, but his record lasted for over a decade and won silver twice while competing in another event. Also the question wasn't how do you rank 800 meter olympic medallist, it was how do you rank greatest 800 meter runners. So doing well in the olympics is a huge consideration, but not the only one. Since you asked Paula would have to be top 5 considering multiple major marathon wins and a WR that no one has touched.