Biggest Choke / Chokingist Performance Ever?

Dan O'Brien

no height PV at '92 US Olympic trials

effectively killed the Reebok Dan and Dave ad campaign

(in addition to his place on the team and shot at decathlon gold)

he set the world record a couple of weeks after the Barcelona Games so I'd bet he was pretty fit when it woulda', shoulda', coulda' counted

Gaitlin - 8/22/15 ( I think the date is right)

That was a gag in China

It is amazing how little you know. And yet you have great confidence in your opinions. A dangerous combination. You "heard" Moorecroft was sick - but you believed he choked. Could it be that he ran a brilliant race - for someone who was sick. Moorecroft didn't have a history of choking. Look at the field he defeated in the 1978 Commonwealth Games.

Pre 72, Foster 76, Paula Radcliffe x2

I made clear why I think he choked. I didn't just say "he was fastest on the clock and he lost, therefore he choked." The whole point of the Moorcroft comment was simply to show that it didn't matter if he had a cold or whatever. He obviously wasn't dying, as he finished 3rd. He didn't run a brilliant race. He was way out of position beginning the last lap, in 7th or 8th place and boxed in. He then passed a whole bunch of people on the outside but had lost too much ground to Wessinghage. I think his poor positioning cost him at least the silver.If Moorcroft were in a much better position entering the last lap, and lost to Wessinghage anyway (which could very well have happened), I wouldn't have called that a choke.Compare this with Coe at the same championships. I wouldn't call Coe losing to Ferner a choke - Coe did nothing wrong, he just didn't have it that day. He was obviously not at his best but he didn't screw himself over like in 1980.Also, too, this was about single performances, not individuals for their career. I made that clear in the title. Moorcroft ran a great race in 78 and again at the Commonwealths in 82. I think very few people at this level are "chokers." I'm not asking who are great chokers, just a single performance where someone choked.

Duff25 wrote:

It is amazing how little you know. And yet you have great confidence in your opinions. A dangerous combination. You "heard" Moorecroft was sick - but you believed he choked. Could it be that he ran a brilliant race - for someone who was sick. Moorecroft didn't have a history of choking. Look at the field he defeated in the 1978 Commonwealth Games.

I disagree on all 3. Pre ran a terrific race, I think, beating Puttemans, Norpoth, Bedford, McCafferty, all of whom were faster on the clock. He may have made a mistake on the backstretch of the last lap, but he wouldn't have won anyway and probably wouldn't have gotten the bronze either.How did Foster choke? He made no real tactical errors and lost to Viren, Lopes, Quax, Hildenbrand and Dixon. You could make a case that all except for Hildenbrand were better runners than Foster, and Hildenbrand was in great form that year, running 13:13 for 5k, just outside the world record at the time.Regarding Radcliffe, it's hard to say anyone chokes in a marathon - too capricious an event. She just had no kick in the 10k

English Whiting wrote:

Pre 72, Foster 76, Paula Radcliffe x2

I have to go with Mamede, a world class supreme talent. broke the 10k record by 8 seconds, had a ferocious finishing kick . He defeated many a loaded field from 82 until 84. He had a huge mental block during championship races for what ever reason.Unless he was injured during these final events.

I have to go with Mamede, a world class supreme talent. broke the 10k record by 8 seconds, had a ferocious finishing kick . He defeated many a loaded field from 82 until 84. He had a huge mental block during championship races for what ever reason.Unless he was injured during these final events.

Row 5 wrote:

Dan O'Brien

no height PV at '92 US Olympic trials

effectively killed the Reebok Dan and Dave ad campaign

(in addition to his place on the team and shot at decathlon gold)

he set the world record a couple of weeks after the Barcelona Games so I'd bet he was pretty fit when it woulda', shoulda', coulda' counted

Thread over.

Wasn't it Linford Christie who false started at the olympic final in the 100m? I remember him refusing to acknowledge the false start and wouldn't leave that track. Haha that was a pretty laughable choke there

Kipketer. Indoor/Outdoor world record holder, 3x world champion, fastest 800m runner in the world for 5 years, couldn't win an Olympic gold.

Both the finals in 2000 and 2004 were very tactical and he misjudged them.

I remember O'Brien missing the pole vault at the time. It really did sort of ruin the Reebok campaign. As I recall, he could have jumped a lower height and been just fine.

Was Kipketer the favorite in 2000 and 2004? I'm not so sure about 2004. If so, then possibly yes to him as well. The 800, like the marathon, is easy to screw up. I only picked Coe in 1980, as he was clearly the best 800 meter runner in the field and was way, way out of position for most of the race.

Another pick could be Ovett in 1983 - ran as fast a last lap as anyone, but way out of position, almost certainly missed a medal because of it. Unusual for him, as he always seemed to be in the right spot.

Misago wrote:

Kipketer. Indoor/Outdoor world record holder, 3x world champion, fastest 800m runner in the world for 5 years, couldn't win an Olympic gold.

Both the finals in 2000 and 2004 were very tactical and he misjudged them.

Kipketer hardly choked. In his WR shape period, he couldn't compete since he was going for his Denmark citizenship. After that he got malaria and wasn't the same. By 2004 he was old, past his prime, and ran pretty well considering who he was going against.

Eldorado wrote:

Misago wrote:

Kipketer. Indoor/Outdoor world record holder, 3x world champion, fastest 800m runner in the world for 5 years, couldn't win an Olympic gold.

Both the finals in 2000 and 2004 were very tactical and he misjudged them.

Kipketer hardly choked. In his WR shape period, he couldn't compete since he was going for his Denmark citizenship. After that he got malaria and wasn't the same. By 2004 he was old, past his prime, and ran pretty well considering who he was going against.

Amazing what .07 does to someones career. If Bernie was .12seconds faster we could all talk about how El G couldn't handle olympic pressure and was the greatest chocker of all time.

Asafa Powell has had plenty of choke jobs.

'04 Yankees

Jenny B's acting performance at her final NCAA XC Champs

Vera Nikolic in the womens 800m is another example of not coping with intense pressure. This could have ended tragically, but fortunately she came back to win the European Championships in 1971 and finish 5th at the 1972 Olympics. Going in to the 68 Olympics as world record holder she had the weight of the Yugoslav nation on her young shoulders. They had already hung the gold around her neck and even prepared a celebratory stamp to commemorate her expected victory.

From Madeline Manning Jackson's biography Running For Jesus:

i just knew i could hold my pace, and even if a couple of runners passed me, i had enough left to finish among the qualifiers for the finals. Then i began wondering about vera. i glanced around. my lead was secure but vera wasn't even second. i couldn't afford to keep looking behind me, but i took one more long glance an i moved into the last curve. no vera. she wasn't going to challenge me for the lead. she must be running just hard enough to barely qualify and is saving herself for the final, i told myself.

but i was wrong. as i crossed the finish line i turned around and looked through all the runners and vera wasn't there. doris brown, waiting to run in the next heat, had watched our race. what happened to vera? i asked her, puffing. then i noticed some of vera's teammates crying. what's wrong with everybody, doris?

i don't know, mad, doris said. vera stopped after 300 meters and just walked off the track and right out of the stadium.

i could hardly believe it. i knew she had a lot of pressure, but she was too tough an athlete to quit a race. no one knew what happened or why. that night i learned that her coach had followed her out of the stadium and up to the footbridge that connected the practice track and the stadium. he saw her climbing the fence on the bridge and caught her just before she tried to jump to her death.

it really shook me up. i wanted badly to see her, but they were not letting her talk to anyone.......................

the next day, as i left the olympic village to go for the 800 meter finals with doris...we noticed vera with her coach. she was crying. i left the other girls and ran to her.

how are you feeling? i asked, she didn't speak much english but she shrugged and nodded, trying hard to hold back her tears. i took her hands in mine, and thought i knew she wouldn't understand every word, i'd hope she'd understand where i was coming from. she looked amazed that i would break my concentration on the finals just to talk to her. i know that you are a great athlete, i said. i want to see you go back and get yourself together and get your mind together. pray to god for strength, and when you come back, you'll come out fighting and be the runner i know you are. she cried openly and then nodded as we hugged each other.

(a year later at the europe vs. americas games in germany i ran into vera's coach. how is she? i asked. she's here, he told me. when you stopped to talk to her before your own finals, it brought tears to my eyes. if you hadn't done that, i'm sure she would have given up. it was the turning point in her life. she's back in training, and while she's not in top shape yet, she's coming back. by then she had seen me and ran up to hug me. 3 years later in munich she was again among the top 5 800 meter women in the world.

Read more:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5494096#ixzz3jjVSMWdo

Bill Walker wrote:

Asafa Powell has had plenty of choke jobs.

In 2004 Asafa Powell Ran the fastest semi at the Olympics and wound up with the third fastest time in the world that year.

He finished 5th in the final

In 2005 Powell set the world record. Didn't make the Jamaican team.

In 2006 he equaled the WR.

In the 2007 he broke the WR.

He got a bronze in at the World Championships in 2007.

In 2008 he sets a new PR, second fastest in the world behind Bolts new WR.

He finished 5th in the Olympics

In 2009 he had the third fastest time and got a Bronze (not bad actually)

2011 he had the second fastest time in the world.

Didn't make the Jamaican team

2012 had the 4th fastest time in the world

7th at the Olympics

2013 doping issues

2014 had the third fastest time in the world.

2015 had the second fastest time in the world going into the WCs.

Finished 7th.

That's a lot of choking.