Not in ‘ wrote:
Get real. Aouita ran a 3:30.6 that season.
No chance whatsoever that Coe would’ve beaten him that season in anything from 1500m and up.
Strong statement.
Coe looked in 3:30 shape when he easily won the AAA championships after being tripped and losing 30m with a lap to go.
Just a week or two later (and still carrying a minor injury from that race) he would have beaten Bile at the World Cup if not for being impeded. Bile ran a 3:30.5 that year.
Also they Kenyan who almost beat Aouita in the race I linked to on YouTube only ran a 3:34 that season (while being beaten by Coe).
Aouita also only ran under 3:34 once that season, the first time I think since 1982.
He was beaten (actually destroyed) for the first time in the 5000m in years by John Ngugi.
He broke the 3000m WR after years of trying, although that record was quickly made to look quite ordinary and it's not even in the top 25 times anymore.
In any case, it's a tragedy and a mystery why some promoter didn't make them a reasonable offer to meet. Coe had made public that he would be retiring to go into politics. Andy Norman in the UK obviously ensured that there would finally be a Coe VS Ovett matchup on home soil, and Ovett was a shadow of himself. It's surprising Coe and Aouita didn't agree to meet, as there was not going to be any more 'holding out for a better offer'.
However, Coe took on everybody over 1500 and 800 that season, including Bile of course. Aouita took on literally nobody except Ngugi over 5000m. So we know who was likely (still) ducking who.
To the other poster - yes, I think Aouita was losing his speed. He had a bit of an up and down season. Presumably he was stil blood doping at this point (assuming he hadn't gotten hold of EPO yet). Perhaps he had gotten spooked by the Ben Johnson affair and was using it more sparingly now? And he knew his career was coming to an end and would be unlikely to still be on top come Barcelona 92.