Is Aouita really the most versatile athlete ever?

Agree with monte fella. Verstility is what we are trying to establish , Yes! Cross = flat, fast, mud, hills, etc, etc. Track= fast. Marathon= 26 miles of torture. Tergats verstility regardless of surface, terrain, distance and pace is unmatched.. You guys need to narrow this to verstility in the middle distances from what you are debating or open it up to versatiltiy in running in general regardless of surfaces and distances.

The versatility I used in picking Said Aouita as THE BEST ATHLETE is not just how fast he ran in numerous event but what he accomplished in regards to others in those event and medals in major championships. There span of track and field have had numerous athletes who were incredibly fast and did so often but came to Olympic/Worlds and never garnered A GOLD. The fact that Said Aouita won a medal in either the Olympics or Worlds in 3 different events is itself unmatched with todays ELITE athletes. In breaking barriers he did so and often first under 13 minutes for the 5000m and first under 7:30 for 3000m.

Two honors you will NEVER read or see again in your lifetime:

*only man to rank #1 in every middle to long distance flat race on the track.

*only male to ever run

800m.........sub 1:44

1500m........sub 3:30

Mile.........sub 3:50

3000m........sub 7:30

5000m........sub13:00

10000m.......sub27:30

all those were back in the mid to late 1980's and all those time 15-20 years later are still SUPER ELITE!

If El G got off his ass and raced events other than the 1500, he would have a pretty good shot at being most versatile.

1:46 last 800 in a 1500m suggests he could run 1:44

3:26/3:43 in 1500m/Mile

7:23 in 3000m

12:50 in 5000m

Could run about 12:45 or faster in 5000m and probably -27min 10k as he is awesome endurance runner.

geb's 26:22 means he would probably have lapped aouita at 10k. they aren't comparable at that distance

also note that if you're talking about versatility, aouita dominated only on the track. haile is a proven marathoner, has road world records, and good cross country finishes

I guess a certain point with being versatile is running fast at distances originally requiring different kind of training. 1500 and Marathon training is generally speaking by far more similar than training for 800m and 10k.

Talking about versatility one probably shouldn't forget Finnish Juha Vaatainen??? 10.8 in the 100m, and eventually European Champion in the 5 and 10k in 1971. (In a time when Europeans still knew how to run...).

I suppose this argument is for modern athletes only. But please note that Paavo Nurmi held WRs for 1500m, mile, 3k, 2 miles, 3 miles, 5k, 4 miles, 5 miles, 6 miles, 10k, 10 miles, one hour, and 20k. He never set the half marathon WR simply because no one thought of it as a race distance back then. His only marathon attempt was a 40k race at near-WR pace, and had he retained amateur status for the '32 Olympics he might have set the WR there.

Aouita is unique. I'm not aware of any other male athlete who was as good at the 800m and was world-class at anything longer than 2 miles.

In that case then you have to consider putting Lopes above Tergat. Lopes Won the world cross 3x, he had an olympic silver over 10k in 1976, and then he set world records AND won Olympic Gold in the marathon.

As for Aouita versus Geb range debate, Aoutia won an Olympic Gold in the 5k in 1984, then four years later carrying a very bad hamstring injury (he was basically running on one leg), he won a bronze medal at 800m in 1988. It is unthinkable that Geb would ever contemplate challenging for an Olympic Medal at 800m, in fact he just won outdoor championships medals at 10000m only. Plus what is Geb's steeple chase pb ??

No, Aouita is not the most versatile athlete ever.

Geb may not be able to medal in the 800 champs but he most certainly could in every event above it that is contested on this planet. That cannot be said about Aoutia, he just has the 800 on Geb.

Tergat would be in the top 3 for sure but Geb is the man until, like someone else has mentioned, Bekele takes over.

I think the point needs to be made that, yes, 1500 and marathon training is pretty similar. But what other 800 runner could rank number one in the 10,000. (or vice versa)?

What other athlete would even attempt it?

The eventually move up from the 1500m to the marathon have been done by a few athletes in the modern era but #1 800m runner have ranked #1 in the 10000m. Aouita most versatile.

Put it this way: Aoiuta was capable of winning gold in the olympics/world championships at four different distances during his prime:

800m (he won a bronze when injured in the '88 olympics, and he was ranked #1 in the world that year, beating the gold and silver medalists before the olympics when he was healthy)

1500m (he won a bronze in the '83 wc's before he entered his prime and later broke the world record in '85)

5000m (he did win gold, twice in the '84 olympics and '87 wc's)

10000m (he ranked #1 in the world in '86, the one year that he ran the race and came within 13 seconds of the world record in his only serious race at the distance; in a championship race, he'd have been hard to stop with his kick and it might have taken world record pace to drop him)

Geb was/is capable of winning gold at three distances:

5000m (he did get a silver in the '93 wc's before he entered his prime and later obliterated the world record)

10000m (2 olympic golds and 4 wc golds speaks for itself)

Marathon (fastest debut ever, he's probably capable of faster, we'll see in 2008 if he can win this one, but he is certainally a contender and capable of winning)

Aouita had the capabilities to win gold at 4 olympic distances, Geb 3, so the edge goes to Aoiuta here. In terms of what they actually did, Aoiuta has championship (olympic) medals at 800m and 5000m, that's better than geb's range of medals at 5000m and 10000m (his world indoor title at 1500m was not against the top guys in the world). In terms of world rankings, Aoiuta ranked #1 from 800m and 10000m. Geb ranked #1 from 3000m to 10000m (and 3rd at the marathon?) He never ranked at 1500m. Aoiuta has the better range.

Gebrselassie ran 3'31 INDOORS, with a full concentration there is no doubt that he would have been inside of 3'30 outdoors. Gebrselassie wouldn't have beat El Guerrouj but he would have been in the medals had he choosen to.

Time wise, Gebrselassie's 3000, 5000, and 10,000 are light years ahead of Aouita's. In fact, Gebrselassie would have lapped Said in a 10,000.

Gebrselassie won titles at 1500, 3000, 5000, 10000, and half marathon. He was also a strong, although not dominate, cross country runner. Add in his 2h06 marathon where he scared what is possibly the two greatest marathoners of all time (consistent and fastest), and Gebrselassie had range over seven disciplines to win World or Olympic medals.

For sure Gebrselassie did not have range to go down to the 800 (2 indoor races at 1'50), but overall he could have more medals at more distances.

Also remember that Aouita only ran the 10,000M once and was spiked in that race and ran just to win. Before the race he announced that he was going for the record.He was also head and shoulders above his competition from 1985-1989, so he had very few people to push him.

Californian wrote:

10000m (he ranked #1 in the world in '86, the one year that he ran the race and came within 13 seconds of the world record in his only serious race at the distance; in a championship race, he'd have been hard to stop with his kick and it might have taken world record pace to drop him)

I agree with Vipam, Aouita was the most versatile - look at what the guy DID, not what El G could do. Aouita went from 800-10,000 - no one else has come close to trying that. In '88 BOTH his legs were taped - one in front the other in the back. Haile may have been better, but not more versatile - the jump from the 10 to the (1/2) marathon is not as big as the jump from the 800 to the 15. Think how few guys there are that are world class in even just the 800 and the 15.

Californian wrote:

Aouita had the capabilities to win gold at 4 olympic distances, Geb 3, so the edge goes to Aoiuta here. In terms of what they actually did, Aoiuta has championship (olympic) medals at 800m and 5000m, that's better than geb's range of medals at 5000m and 10000m (his world indoor title at 1500m was not against the top guys in the world). In terms of world rankings, Aoiuta ranked #1 from 800m and 10000m. Geb ranked #1 from 3000m to 10000m (and 3rd at the marathon?) He never ranked at 1500m. Aoiuta has the better range.

Excuse me but running 3:31 indoor for 1500m and winning a world championship certainly gives him as much or more credibility as a 1500m Gold threat as does Said's 1 10k race. If you say Auoita in the 10k you have to give Geb the 1500. So you are locked at 4 events each.

And the guy who said 1500m training is essentially like marathon training must be nuts. Maybe back in the 60's it might have been in 2005 they are very different. Also many top 1500-5000 runners have run very strong 800m off of their mile/5k training so I think its no more of stretch to for 800m-10k range then it is for a 1500m-marathon range.

Flat course versitility (track and flat course marathon) is a close competition between Aouita and Geb but total all around running versitility (distance, speed, surface, hills, etc.) is a competition between Geb and Terget.

Since Geb is a finalist in either way you look at versatility lets just give it to him and move on to the next subject.... like the what Coe could have done a 400m in if he trained for it - low 45?

"Excuse me but running 3:31 indoor for 1500m and winning a world championship certainly gives him as much or more credibility as a 1500m Gold threat as does Said's 1 10k race. If you say Auoita in the 10k you have to give Geb the 1500. So you are locked at 4 events each."

Are you kidding me? Geb would not have even medaled if he ran the 1500m in the olympics. Obviously he could not not have beaten El Gerroudj. But its not likely he would have beaten Lagat or Ngeny, either. So he would have been out of the medals in 2000. In 2004, he had lost some of his speed, and in '96, he hadn't yet shown his skills at 1500m.

Aouita, on the other hand, ran 27:26, which was within 1% of the world record at 10000m in '86. In '88, the winning 10k time was 27:21. Its very plausible that he could have run a 5 or 6 second pr to stay close to the guy who won and beaten him with a superior kick. Its easier to use your speed to win a longer event than it is to use your endurance to win a shorter event. Aouita was much more likely to have medaled or won gold at 10k than Geb was at 1500m.

Geb, nor Aouita could run XC. Surely to be the most versatile you have to consider what they did over XC. Geb raced the WC finished in the top 10 once I believe. Aouita only ran the WC as a junior and got stuffed.

I am extremely biased, but I would say Ovett should be considered over Aouita and Geb. In the late 70's / early 80's he took on all-comers over 800m to 5,000m on the track. He would race people all over on the road in the winter and then would place in the top three regularly in our National XC, when in heavy training.

Ovett could sprint but he could also handle long distance races. He could run time trial but could also win in tactical races. He won on all terrains at any time of the year.

These days athletes are much more event specific, whereas guys like Ovett could do whatever they wanted.

try reading the post again. Aouita DID win medals in three (3) different Outdoor track Championships (Olys or Worlds 800m, 1500m, and 5000m) and Haile won medals in two Outdoor Championships events (5000m and 10000m). TIME ISN'T RELEVATE AS AOUITA was a decade before Haile.

Aouita best ranking---------Haile best ranking

800m......1st.....................n/a

1500m.....1st.....................n/a

3000m.....1st.....................1st

5000m.....1st.....................1st

10000m....1st.....................1st

Marathon..n/a.....................4th

Aouita former world record in every flat 1500m, 2000m, 3000m, and 5000m

Haile former world record in 5000m and 10000m. Yep I gonna have go with Master's pick no doubt its Aouita yeah Aouita.