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All time greats: Ottey and Coe
Most of us have heroes in any sport we enjoy. Whether it’s a sport we do ourselves, or just a spectator sport. Whenever I watch some sporting activity on TV, almost automatically I root for one of the teams or competitors, if it’s an individual sport, over the rest. The reason for selecting a particular person is not always the same. Perhaps it’s the person’s proficiency at his/her event, a previous sporting achievement, dominance of an event, attitude towards success, or maybe just because he or she is the underdog or the new kid on the block.
Today I’d like to focus on two all time greats that have both inspired and entertained millions of people in their respective events, yet their eras only overlapped for a few years.
The first person was born in 1960 in Cold Springs, Jamaica. Pretty early on in life she displayed talent as a sprinter. At the tender age of 14 she had already run 25 seconds for 200m. With a best time of 10.74 for the 100m and 21.93 for 200m, she is regarded by many as the greatest female sprinter in history. Her name is Merlene Ottey. Her career has spanned more than two decades, and includes more than 70 sub 11 sec 100m’s, more than 15 sub 22 sec 200m’s, 14 World Championships medals, 8 Olympic medals, 9 current or former World Indoor records. Despite these credentials she has never won sprinting’s blue ribband event, the 100m-dash. Having attended every World Championship and Olympic Games between 1980 and 2000, she was denied every time.
I admire many things about Merlene; her focussed attitude when lining up in the starting blocks, her grace and poise when she’s in full flight, her supremely tuned and conditioned physique and her wonderful attitude in victory and also defeat. Her impressive appearance has made her one of the most photographed athletes on the circuit and her attitude one of the most popular amongst fans all over the world. Her career is still not over and even in her forties she is setting masters track records that will probably exist for another forty years or more.
My personal sprinting career reached a high in 1980, when I came second in the 100m and won the 150m, twice, due to a timing error, during my first year in high school. A few months later my career was redefined as I finished stone last in the 100m at inter-high at the RAU stadium in Johannesburg. This flow of events steered me towards middle distance running, which soon developed from enjoyment and fascination, to the major passion in my life. Of course with passion we associate role models, but it was only 4 years later that I heard the name Sebastian Coe for the first time.
First impressions made him seem like the boy-next-door, modest and articulate, yet in his prime, he was like no runner this world had ever seen. He inspired more enthusiasm, patriotism, and affection than almost any other British sportsman, reaching an audience among young and old alike.
Sebastian Newbold Coe was born in Chiswick, West London, on 29 September 1956. He will tell you that some of his earliest recollections are of running. From the time he could walk, he preferred to run. When he was no more that three years old, he used to run next to his sister’s pram. As he lived on the edge of town, he’d regularly run (literally) errands for his mom by jogging 3 km into town and back.
Playing soccer with all the other boys at school, he developed his running prowess more specifically later on, when in 1972, as a fifteen year old, and running against boys a year older he came 10th at English Schools intermediate cross-country over four miles. One year later he won the English Schools 3000m in 8m40s, and broke four minutes for the first time when winning the Northern Counties 1500m in 3m59s. Later the same year he won the National Youth Championship in 3m55s. At this stage his father Peter, who was also his coach, was convinced that his son could one day go all the way. His dad could not have been closer to the truth! Coe’s first display of greatness was in the summer of 1979, when he sensationally broke three world records in 41 days, to become the worlds most discussed athlete. (3 July 800m - 1m42,33; 17 July 1 mile – 3m48,95; 15 August 1500 – 3m32,03) One year later, at the time of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, he was the odds-on favourite to win the 800m against archrival Steve Ovett. Ovett achieved a major upset as he hung on for victory, with Coe having to settle for second place in 1m45s. Coe was devastated of course, all made worse by the reaction of the sporting press. The day after he went for a leisurely 16 km jog to put things in perspective. No rest for the weary though, as he had to line up for the 1500m heats, only four days after the 800m final. The following day was the semi-final where he secured his spot in the final with a time of 3m39s. Yet another day later he lined up for his second final of the 1980 Olympics, and one of the most stressful races of his career. Rising to the occasion, Seb beat Ovett into third place as be won going away in a time of 3m38s.
The year after the Olympics he set two more world records, 800m in 1m41 which was to be unbroken for the next 16 years, and the 1000m in 2m12sec, still the current world record. However, during the next two years were plagued by illness, and saw very little action on the track. When the British team for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles was announced, to great disgust of the British press, Coe was included in the team. The public and the press thought he was past his prime and out of shape, and some younger English runner should have the opportunity to go to the Olympics. Coe had different ideas. During the 800m heats he maintained a low profile and managed once again to make it through to the finals. At the time the world was treated to the amazing talent of Joachim Cruz from Brazil. The potent Brazilian powered his way to the gold medal in the final, and rising to the occasion, Coe hung in for the silver medal, again!
However, as defending champion in the 1500m, Coe was not ready to go down without a fight. It was his title and they weren’t having it. This time however, he was up against a few new kids on the block, including Britain’s new running sensation, Steve Cram. Running a tactically perfect race, Cram was poised to strike hard with 200m to go. Coe was more than up for the challenge though and as they hit the home straight he had yet another gear to go into. He unleashed one of the most fearsome kicks in middle distance running, and ran in to history!
Even now, more than two decades later, I get chills as I recall the flow of events. Heroes help us to reach deeper within us to go higher than we thought was possible. Each year there are new faces and new stories. Some a flash in the pan and others will leave their mark for generations to come. Long live the legends of the tracks!
