Is Said Aouita justly the most versatile runner who
has ever lived??
Is Said Aouita justly the most versatile runner who
has ever lived??
I think Steve Ovett had as much range as Auotia did but he just didn't race at 5k and 10k distances. He also probably had better top-end leg speed than Aouita.
No, But he certainly raced a variety of distances. Haile G I would think could match him at pretty much every distance plus go all the way up to the marathon. Paul Tergat could also be considered the most versatile based on his range from 3-10k on the track, numerous XC titles, and world records in the half and marathon.
Off the top of my head
1:43
3:29
7:29
12:58
27:22
Olympic gold 5k
Olympic bronze 800m
vs.
3:31i
7:25
12:39
26:22
2:06 (probably faster in a short while)
double Olympic gold 10k
4 times world 10k gold
world indoor titles at 3000m (3x) and one at 1500m
I say Geb
And of course someone will always bring up Rod Dixon in these conversations, and rightly so.
You shouldn't make time comparisons based on athletes 10-15 years apart, especially pre-1995 EPO era athletes.
Aouita won an Olympic bronze medal in the 800, ranked number one in the world for that event, and also was ranked number one in the world one year for 10,000.
He had the best range by far.
People make comparisons about Ovett and his 1:05 half-marathon but that time isn't world-class.
I think that 1500m-marathon is a greater range than 800m-10k.
that aouita ran such a good 800m is certainly the most impressive example of his versatility. the only event where he would definitely beat geb.
M Warrior wrote:And of course someone will always bring up Rod Dixon in these conversations, and rightly so.
Yep. Oly bronze at 1500 all the way up to 2:08 marathon in his NY win.
Dixon was also the coolest of them all (Ovett was cool, too; I don't think he partied as much. Those guys were fun athletes.
Geb has to get the nod: he's a minute faster over 10k, and the 1500 he ran is actually a better performance than Aouita's considering Geb's was indoors. Aouita was amazing in his own right and gets merit for being genuinely world class at distances from 800 to 10k. There is no shame, however, in coming a close second to Haile Gebrselassie.
Records and performances are meant to be broken.
Ovett had good range, but Aouita actually has a faster 800m pr than Ovett (1:43.86 vs 1:44.09) and a way better 5k (12:58 vs 13:20), not to mention he has a second on Ovett at 1500m. No question Aoiuta had better range than Ovett.
As for Geb, strictly on race times, Geb has better range, but could he go to the olympics and medal at 800m? No way. Could he medal at 1500m? Probably not. Aouita medaled at 800m and was world ranked #1 at 10000m within two years of each other. That's more impressive range than Geb in my book.
At his best, Geb could definitely contend for a 1500 medal. That 3:31 was a "one-off" race only two sec. behind El G's WIR. With some race-specific training and lead-up races, 3:28 outdoors was well within reach, and he clearly had the wheels on the last lap.
It was actually less than a second off the record (3:31.18).
Geb ran 3:31i four months before running 26:22 and 12:39!
He won his world indoor 1500m title two days after he won the indoor 3k title and just a few months before he won his 4ht world 10k title.
Kenny Bekele will best every Geb performance when all is said and done. He will have the WRs from 5k-Marathon possibly 3k and 2 mile as well. He will be a double olympic gold medalist in Bejing plus the 10k he already has and he has countless world xc titles. If there is ever someone again who can attempt, let alone win the 5k 10k and marathon at the same games, it is bekele.
He may not be the most versitile now, but he's still only in his early 20s.
trackhead wrote:
Geb ran 3:31i four months before running 26:22 and 12:39!
He won his world indoor 1500m title two days after he won the indoor 3k title and just a few months before he won his 4ht world 10k title.
That's a good point! I think that we should consider the time frame. It demonstrates more versatility, in my opinion, to race three different distances at roughly the same time than to race them months (or years) apart.
Ajax
You are right. Haile G is one of the most versatile runners but Aouita is the MOST versatile. Name another athlete beside Aouita that WON (not could):
800m......Olympic Bronze (injuried) '88
1500m.....World Bronze '83
5000m.....Olympic GOLD '84
5000m.....World GOLD '87
look at how he bounced from one event to another right before Olympics and Worlds and managed to medal against specialist in their events. Aouita is the only athlete I know that could go from World Gold in the 5000m to Olympic Bronze in one year. Lets not over look his personal best at the time he posted them:
800m........1:43.86 ('88) focused one year
1500m.......3:29.46 ('87) WR
Mile........3:46.76 ('85) 2nd fastest
2000m.......4:50.81 ('87) WR
3000m.......7:29.45 ('89) WR first under 7:30
5000m......12:58.39 ('87) WR frist under 13 m
10000m.....27:26.?? ('86) debut into alltime top 10
steeple.....8:21.92 ('87) last race of the season
the only athlete (MALE or FEMALE) in the modern ERA to rank #1 in every flat event from the 800m to 10000m!
I disagree, Vipam.
Haile is second only to El Guerrouj for the indoor 1500m in an insanely fast 3:31.76 (and was just behind El Guerrouj when he set the WR in '97). He won a world title at 1500m (of course indoors is not the same level as outdoors, but still) two days after he won the 3000m.
Haile's accomplishments/PBs:
1500: 3:31.76i 2nd fastest ever, 1999 World Indoor Champ
3000: 7:25.06 3rd fastest ever (not counting cheat Saif), world indoor champ in '97 (3:56 1600m in the middle of the race, all by himself), '99 and '03.
5000: 12:56.96 WR, 12:44.39 WR, 12:41.86 WR, 12:39.36 WR
1992 World Junior Champ, '93 World silver medalist
10000: 26:43 WR, 26:31 WR, 26:22 WR World Junior Champ 1992, World Champ Gold 93, 95, 97, 99. World Champ silver '03, bronze in '01. Olympic golds in 96 and 2000, 5th (injured) in '04.
1500 Metres 3:31.76i Stuttgart 02 1999
One Mile 3:52.39 Gateshead 27 06 1999
2000 Metres 4:56.1 Bruxelles 22 08 1997
3000 Metres 7:25.09 Bruxelles 28 08 1998
Two Miles 8:01.08 Hengelo 31 05 1997
5000 Metres 12:39.36 Helsinki 13 06 1998
10,000 Metres 26:22.75 Hengelo 01 06 1998
10 Kilometres 27:02 Doha 11 12 2002
15 Kilometres 41:38 Nijmegen 11 11 2001
Half Marathon 1:00:03 Bristol 07 10 2001
30 Kilometres 1:29:01 London 14 04 2002
Marathon 2:06:35 London 14 04 2002
You guys have all such a narrow focus! Paul Tergat is far and above all others the most verstile athlete of all. Do your homework. His PB's from 1500m/mile to 3k, 5k, 10k and mind bogglig half-marathon and marathon bests plus five world cross titles to add some cream on top. Not to mention how close he took Haile G to the line in olympic finals. The man can run on any surface on any day against anyone over almost any distance and win 99 percent of the time. Tergat, Tergat, Tergat!