3000m race at the Olympics - Who would have won?

1948 = Reiff

1956 = Pirie

1972 = Puttemans

1976 = Foster

1996 = Morceli

Zatopek in 1952.

2012 and 2016 Mo Farah

72 viren

Emil Zatopek wrote:

Zatopek in 1952.

Definitely not - Zatopek was way too slow.

Are you assuming that the 3000m would take place instead of the 5000m? Or would it replace the 1500m? Coghlan would compete in the 3000m in 1980 but Ovett the two mile WR holder wouldn't? Or are you saying Coghlan would beat Ovett over 3000m? Ovett only lost to Treacy (who I think finished 5th in the Moscow 5000m despite collapsing in the semi-final) the week after because he was arrogant, knackered, and suffering from a cold.

What if all the middle-distance guys were training for and competing in the 3000m?

72 Keino

76 Dixon/Walker/Foster/Moorcroft?

80 - Ovett

84 - Coe

88 - Cram

In my hypothesis, the 3000m is another event in the schedule.

Let's assume the race allows for reasonable "rest time" for the runners running in 1500m or 5000m.

I discovered something new about Cram and his dabbles with the 5000m the other day. Apparently he was committed to moving up at the tail end of his career in the winter of 92 after not even getting to Barcelona and crashing out in the 1500 semis the year before in the World Champs. Things were going great and apparently he was running close to his pb (13:28 set in 89 on a windy Gateshead track) in training in South Africa. Then early in the season (93) he surprisingly finished 3rd in the Bislett Mile beating the Olympic Champion Cacho and others like Jim Spivey. That gave him the idea he could still compete again at 1500m and so he scrapped the 5000m plans. But after that race, it was business as usual with him suffering his calf problems every other day. Maybe he would have been better off moving up to the 5000m certainly after Seoul or even before, and he would perhaps not have had such crippling injuries?

Also there are a numerous variables which would affect the outcome of the hypothetical 3000m Olympic race.

- Runners backing up from other events.

- Runners choosing the 3000m only.

- Scheduling

- Training prior to the Olympics.

- Sports in general will also have surprise winners.

It seems like a lot of 1500m stay competing in the event way past their prime when they should have retired or moved up to the 5000m.

Probably don't enjoy doing the training miles for the 5000m and their ego.

Bane wrote:

In my hypothesis, the 3000m is another event in the schedule.

Let's assume the race allows for reasonable "rest time" for the runners running in 1500m or 5000m.

Aouita would have loved that. He could then win two golds every year without having to face the Brits.

Coevett wrote:

Bane wrote:

In my hypothesis, the 3000m is another event in the schedule.

Let's assume the race allows for reasonable "rest time" for the runners running in 1500m or 5000m.

Aouita would have loved that. He could then win two golds every year without having to face the Brits.

That is true.

But however, he was head and shoulders above the rest in the 3000m event.

I think we should also consider the steeplechasers in this conversation as 3000m is their specialty distance even though they normally have barriers to jump over. Saif Saaeed Shaheen has the WR of 7:53.63. What time would he have run without any barriers to jump over? I think he could’ve been competitive with the 1500m and 5000m runners over the 3000m run if it was an Olympic event.

Coevett wrote:

Are you assuming that the 3000m would take place instead of the 5000m? Or would it replace the 1500m? Coghlan would compete in the 3000m in 1980 but Ovett the two mile WR holder wouldn't?

Ovett's 2 Mile world record: paced until 100m to go, worth around 7:40 for 3k, even the indoor world record was faster. The guy never run under 7:40 despite many attempts.

Ovett was so blood doped.

slowvett wrote:

Coevett wrote:

Are you assuming that the 3000m would take place instead of the 5000m? Or would it replace the 1500m? Coghlan would compete in the 3000m in 1980 but Ovett the two mile WR holder wouldn't?

Ovett's 2 Mile world record: paced until 100m to go, worth around 7:40 for 3k, even the indoor world record was faster. The guy never run under 7:40 despite many attempts.

He never made an attempt to run a fast 3000m. He never made an attempt to run a fast two miles. He did enough to win against Rono, he had plenty to spare. He had no interest in times whatsoever in those days. When he broke the two mile world record his 1500m pb was still 3:33 or 3:34, yet most people here think he was clearly capable of close to or better than 3:30 in 77/78.

had there been a 3000m at the 1952 Olympics I think the finalists would have been:

Gaston Reiff (BEL), Gordon Pirie (GBR), Erik Ahldén (SWE), Ilmari Taipale (FIN), Väinö Koskela (FIN), Christopher Chataway (GBR), Fred Wilt (USA), Herbert Schade (FRG), Horace Ashenfelter (USA), Valter Nyström (SWE)

not so fast as these but good competitors would include John Landy (AUS), Curtis Stone (USA) and Evert Nyberg (SWE), and for an outside bet the French Junior 3000m champion Ben Ahmed Abdelkrim.

I agree with the assessment that Zátopek was not fast enough. he liked to race 3000m before a major race as a sharpener but broke 8:20 only a handful of times and went under 8:10 only once, at Brno in Aug 1947. 1952 is also a little too early for Vladimir Kuts who did not start to make a mark until the World Youth Games in Bucharest in Aug 1953; in 1952 he was only 6th in the Soviet 5000m championship running 14:55.6 behind Aleksandr Anufriyev.

cheers

I think towards the more recent decades the 3000m becomes an Ethiopian event, much like the Steeplechase is dominated by the Kenyans.

1948 - Hagg

1952 - Reiff

1956 - Iharos

1960 - Halberg

1964 - Schul

1968 - Keino

1972 - Puttemans

1976 - Dixon

1980 - Ovett

1984 - Aouita

1988 - Aouita

1992 - Morceli

1996 - Gerselassie

2000 - El Guerrouj

2004 - El Guerrouj

2008 - Bekele

2012 - Alamirew

2016 - Kejelcha

Coevett wrote:

He never made an attempt to run a fast 3000m. He never made an attempt to run a fast two miles. He did enough to win against Rono, he had plenty to spare..

He was flat out and couldn't run an inch faster against Rono. He never was in sub 7:40 shape during his full career.