Why you won’t see a world record in the upcoming World Championships or Olympics
Posted August 10th, 2007 at 3:53 PM by Jimson Lee
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, SoundOFF, Columns
When was the last time you saw a world record in a World Championship or Olympics Games in a middle distance or long distance event?
Sprinters take advantage of the Championship atmosphere, the multiple rounds, and faster tracks to set their world records.
You have to go back to Alberto Juantorena’s 1.43.50 800 meters at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. If you count Commonwealth Games, then Filbert Bayi’s 3.32.16 1500 meters in 1974 at Christchurch, NZ. (more on that race later)
Unfortunately, we can thank the rabbits for destroying that opportunity.
Rabbits set the pace and do the wind breaking so others can draft anywhere from half to three-quarters of the race. They are paid professionals, usually world class athletes themselves, and the races are usually straight final invitationals.
In the Olympics or World Champs, you need a teammate to qualify through the rounds. For some countries, having 2 world class athletes meeting the IAAF “A” standard is non-existent, let alone one athlete!
Let’s take a look at a few examples of rabbits where teammates assisted in the pace setting, and we’ll focus on the mile or the 1500 meters.
- Roger Banister, 1953, the year before his sub 4 minute mile. In this race, an intentional lapped runner assisted Bannister in a failed sub 4 minute mile (the current rule with rabbits is LAPPED runners are not allowed to be pace setters)
- Roger Banister, 1954, sub 4 minute mile. He needed 2 rabbits, one for the first 2 laps and the second rabbit for the third lap. The rest is history.
- Kipchoge Keino vs. Jim Ryun, 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Ryun was unaware that Keino’s teammate (playing sacrificial lamb) was pace setting in the rarefied air. Or at least he didn’t know when Keino would be making his move. Keino also won a silver medal in the 500 meters at the same Olympics.
- Hicham El Guerrouj’s silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. His teammate did the pace setting, but ultimately was out-kicked by Noah Ngeny. El Guerrouj would later get his revenge by winning double gold in the 1500 meters and 5000 meters in Athens Olympics in 2004.
Personally, I don’t like rabbits as it defeats the head to head competition, which is what sports is all about. The elements of rain, wind, or altitude effects everyone, so it’s a level playing field.
Of course, my favorite race without rabbits is the 1974 Commonwealth Games 1500 meters Filbert Bayi victory over John Walker. Bayi opened up a first lap 54.9 and ran from start to finish in first place, with Walker closing in the final lap.
I love the “catch me if you can” attitude!
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Tags: 1 mile, 1500m, 1976 Montreal Olympics, Alberto Juantorena, catch me if you can, championship atmosphere, Christchurch, Commonwealth Games, competition, Filbert Bayi, head to head competition, hicham el guerrouj, IAAF A Standard, IAAF World Championships, IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Jim Ryun, John Walker, Kip Keino, Kipchoge Keino, lap, lapped, long distance, middle distance, Noah Ngeny, olympic games, rabbits, rant, records, Roger Bannister, straight final invitationals, word record, world record
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