Run-Down Forums

[Kishan Gill]

I thought it was time to indulge in some trivia and the subject is your favourite sprinter of all time. I am sure this has been discussed in past posts but we will do it again.
Note, the question is favourite sprinter and not greatest in your opinion but obviously if your favourite also happens to be arguably the greatest such as lewis,greene or hayes than so be it.

My nomination goes to calvin smith. One of the main reasons is that I watched him on tv growing up as a teenager in the eighties. You would think I would go for the commonsense choice of lewis who was by far the better sprinter, but my choice is for different reasons.

Smith broke hines 15 year old record but that has no bearing on my decision as the record could have been broken by several athletes and it was altitude assisted like hines time.
What set smith apart from most other athletes was that he was a slightly built natural and fluid sprinter. You knew with smith that it was pure unadulterated speed.
Another aspect was his sportsmanship. he was gracious in defeat and adverse to showboating. he was a very uncontroversial athlete. ( For some this may be a reason not to pick him as uncontroversial relates to uncharismatic)
My favourit moment was watching him for the first time in 1982 in a us v gdr duel in karl marx stadt where he overcame a seemingly impossible deficit to win the relay from top east german sprinter emmelman.
Smith had earlier run 9.91 (+2.1) to win the individual.
The bottom line is that smith was a very exciting sprinter to watch.
Nuff said !!
I invite the rest of you on your favourite, if you have the time. I am currentlly on leave so I have time to kill.

[Conway]

Smith was a good choice .. I have lots of Smith stories as I saw him live for the first time at the end of his HS career when he won the sprint double at the Golden West Invitational .. I knew then he was something special ... Saw him compete at several national championships as well as Olympic Trials in '84 and '88 ... And in the Games in Los Angeles in '84 .. Outstanding sprinter in spite of the fact he was overshadowed by Lewis ...

But my personal favorite was Steve Williams .... Probably because I was a teen during his reign and did all I could to emulate him ... Tall and smooth and FAST !!! Ran 9.1 twice for yards ... 9.9 four times !!! 19.9 for yards and 19.8 for meters ... And ran 44.9 as a college freshman !!! Horrible start, but pure fluid speed in full flight ... The one athlete that everyone feared during the 70's ... Only injury kept him from being mentioned in the history books along side Lewis or Johnson ... Because there is no doubt that healthy he would have won the sprint double at the 76 Games ... As no one was his equal prior to his injury before the Trials ... Anchored the legendary 38.03 WR relay team - nearly 30 years ago !!!!

Saw him run many many times ... Saw him run 9.1 ( and a couple of 9.2's) ... Saw one of his 9.9's ... But the most impressive was watching him run down Valery Borzov in the US v USSR dual in the 4x1 ... Ran him down and then ran off and left him - all in only 100 meters !!!!

His hand times no longer get respect from most ... But what a lot of people don't realize is the accuracy of the times as they were all in major meets with top quality timers ... And that several times he had 9.8's and 9.0's that were "rounded up" inpart due to the fact that no one was supposed to run that fast !!!

And, like Calvin Smith, he was a good citizen and a gracious individual ... Class act ...
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Conway
Speed Thrills

[Kishan Gill]

Williams was also an inspiration to lewis . The only footage I have of him is his 1977 world cup win. I have read about him a lot and without a doubt he will go down in history as a great sprinter who missed out when it mattered due to injuries.

Williams ran in britain a number of times and had I been a little older I am sure he would have my vote.

I really do envy the fact that you were able to witness these great athletes upclose.

My only instance is when I went to crystal palace in 1999. I was on the other side of the stadium so was unable to enjoy the 100m race in which surin beat boldon. I had to put up with the pole-vault most of the time.
By this time my passion for track was not as intense as it was as a teen, however I still like to stay in touch, just as I will be for todays lausanne meet.

[Conway]

Despite current appearances, track and field used to be BIG here in the United States ... And living here on the West Coast, spring time was as big as the current Golden League Circuit in Europe ...

Even now with Track in declinei here in the States, the West Coast is the one place where you can still see quality track and field ... We have the Trials and NCAA's here in Sacramento ... Home Depot in Los Angeles ... Payton Jordan meet in Stanford .... And then the PAC10's rotate among several sites here in California ... Imagine about 4 times that many quality meets and that is what I grew up with ...

I've been able to see just about every major sprinter of the last 3 decades live and in person ... I feel pretty good about that ...
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Conway
Speed Thrills

[Kishan Gill]

You've got the great weather for it too.

Sometimes I wish I was living over there. It is a great atmosphere for budding young athletes.

Here the weather is a big let down . Getting a descent summer is a lottery. Apart from a couple of days in june when the thermometer went over 30 C it has been cloudy and cool with showers for the past week over the most of the British isles and it's July !!!

My daughter came third in the district champs over 800m in her first year at high school. I would really wish she could reach a level that would get her a scholarship at a good californian college where she could benefit from the competition and I could bask in the sun. It's just a dream now.

Despite British athletes being household names, track is still a distant fourth to football(soccer to you), rugby and cricket so the facilities are nothing compared to the states.

[Dan]

I may be subconsciously biased toward the Canadians, but my two favorites would have to be Ben Johnson and Donovan Bailey. If I had been around to see Bob Hayes run, I'd probably put him in the same category, because each ran with an almost animalistic raw power that was a joy to watch.

How fast did your daughter run?

Dan
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[Kishan Gill]

Good question.

I didn't note the time and haven't received any feedback from the organisers. I suspect it will be in the 3.00/3.10 range. What should be a good marker for a 12 year old to aim at ?

I think if I grew up in the sixties I would have probably gone for charlie greene. He was a character, again not heavily built (my type of sprinter is the opposite to your raw poweful muscular types) and looked quite good with his shades(or re-entry shields as he called them).

As for british sprinters I would prefer darren campbell, again the opposite to the wells and chambers type, but campbell has never really been up there depite his 200m olympic silver and world 100m bronze. But credit to the man for doing it when it mattered.

[X King]

[X King]

A couple of my favourite Sprinters would have to be ... Michael Johnson, Carl Lewis, Jesse Owens, Bob Hayes, Valeri Borzov, Frankie Fredericks, Ato Boldon, Charley Paddock. All the guys I've mentioned brought their 'A' game to the Track and were great at doubling up in the Sprints which often lead to some fantastic performances in both Sprints.

My absolute favourite is, undoubtedly, Mo Greene. The guy leaves everything he has on the Track and with the Multiple Olympic & World Outdoor (Indoors too) titles that he has ranging from 60m to the 4x100m relay establishes him as the G.O.A.T for me. Mo is the ultimate competitor and always shows this (when healthy) in the Major Championships and that's why he is my fave
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Anon.

[Kishan Gill]

thanks for the tip xking. Looks like a lot of work to put in but as she is young I am letting her enjoy other sports. If she shows promise over the next few years then maybe by that age she will be mature enough to concentrate on track alone and get proper guidance. That's a big if though.

Going back to the main subject. Is MO from your generation as it is interesting that conway and I are both influenced by the decade we grew up in whilst dans national pride came into play.

MO is undoubtly among the best of them all but I am always for the underdog, that's why my choice for this decade would go to kim collins, another natural looking sprinter who has been fairly consistent in the main events although far from being pound for pound on the same level as the greens, gatlins and powells of this world.

As for the nineties, I am really stumped on that one for a favourite . I did like mitchell and fredericks though.

[Dan]

[X King]

[Kishan Gill]

I guess it's a combination of growing up in that decade and national pride although johnson did tarnish it until baileys saving grace .

It was in fact 2000 xking, I lost track (pardon the pun). voronins high jump was the high point but for me it was better watching it at home. You really need to book early to be in the main stands.

That was a daytime meeting but they have been held in the late afternoon to evening ever since.

I wish I booked this year for the gatlin and powell clash.

[Micah Ward]

If I may add my irreverant two cents worth.

Gail Devers and Zhanna Block.

For obvious reasons.
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[Kishan Gill]

I think I missed the obvious

But your eyes really popped out there so I think I catch your drift