Run-Down Forums

[Justin]

So what would the perfect men's 4x1 be?

Some thoughts:

Leg 1: Drummond, Jackson
Leg 2: Boldon, Burrell, Sangouma
Leg 3: Smith, Mitchell
Leg 4: Lewis, Christie, Greene, Hayes

Justin

[Dan]

I've gotta put a vote in for my boys from up north (down south, originally), Ben Johnson and Donovan Bailey. Given a one-shot championship race, I think Donovan can hang with anyone on an anchor leg. Take his Atlanta OG win, with one of the worst starts ever seen, and give it a running start and see how much he pulls away from the field... Ben seems like he'd be more of a starter than finisher, but probably too untested running the turn.

Dan

[Conway]

Wow ... I like Justin's groupings, but ... I think I would add Steve Riddick to the list of second leggers and might even consider him the best of the lot .. Although Burrell was hard to beat .. I also think Cason in 92 was as good as any there ..

On the anchor I would take off Christie .. And I am a BIG Christie fan .. But I never saw him close on the anchor .. I would put Steve Williams on the anchor ... Only two anchors I can think of ever ran down world class ocmpetition from behind .. Hayes and Williams ..

I also thought Larry Black ran a pretty awesome first leg and would consider him there ..

[Conway]

And what about this 4x4 grouping ???


Leg 1: Danny Everett, Andrew Valmon
Leg 2: Quincy Watts, Maurice Peoples
Leg 3: Steve Lewis, Tyree Wasington
Leg 4: Michael Johnson, Lee Evans

[Justin]

Surely there can be no candidate for anchor other than Kriss Akabusi????

[Dan]

Who???

http://www.soon.org.uk/page7.htm
http://www.akabusi.com/

Ah, anchored Britain to a 4x4 win over the US in '91, that would make sense.

Dan

[Conway]

What no comments about my 4x1 additions ?? And who was this Akabusi fella ??? Who did he outrun ??? Wasn't one of our first liners was it ???

[Dan]

I'm not commenting on the 4x1 pool until my campaigning gets one of my Canadian chaps on the list!

Dan

[Conway]

OK ... Ben could compete for a spot on lead off

[Justin]

True track fans, and all Americans, know that in '91 a good British team beat an OK American one with Antonio Pettigrew choking and being overtaken on the last leg by a hurdler with a 400m best of 44.9.

However, in UK athletics folklore our glorious team of brave and talented chaps took on and defeated the mighty and, it was thought, unbeatable Americans. That race, and especially the final leg, is played over and over and over again every time there is a major champs, with the team being asked to remember just one more time what it was like to BEAT the MIGHTY Americans.

There's nothing like history as written by the winners, especially winners who aren't used to it!

Justin

[Dan]

Ok, now we're getting somewhere with the relay pool.

1st: Ben Johnson
2nd: Ato Boldon
3rd: Calvin Smith
4th: Carl Lewis (Maurice, Donovan, and Bob are of course ready to step in if needed)

Now, to make this the best possible relay, we'll be running the first leg on the straight, allowing Ben to run his natural straight 100m and the excellent turn runners Ato and Carl to do their thing there. We also might as well give them the JJ advantage, i.e. lane 9.

Justin, takes a true fan to acknowledge the media nationalism!

Dan

[Conway]

Actually Justin I have shown that tape to many kids who tell me they can't beat so and so or so and so team !!! To let tem know that on any given day anything can happen .. Your guys showed heart and grit that day .. I could talke about the poor strategy that was emplyed by the American team but bottom line is your guys ran better that day .. ..

Now I am trying to figure out what Dan is trying to do withthe 4x1 .. If you're going to be starting on a straight then Boldon has to come off and be replaced by probably Mitchell .. And as much as I hate to say so I'd consider MJ for relay consideration on a leg involving a turn .. Another great but often overlooked turn runner was Mike Conley who ran blistering turn on an ARkansas team that ran sub 39 !!!

[Dan]

You know how I like to define the rules as I go!

You see, Ben is the best starter ever and has equaled the fastest 100m ever run without wind assistance, plus he's not known as a closer, so he's a natural choice for leadoff. However, to say he is untested on the turn is an understatement, so his contribution would be maximized by starting on the straight. Now, Ato can run the turn as well as just about anyone (his 45 degree angle duck footedness may actually come in handy there) -- note the trivia thread showing that his 100m split in the 200m isn't far behind Michael Johnson's; MJ probably wouldn't take more than a tenth off the overall time, but his addition would probably add 2 or 3 full seconds worth of disharmony -- and he might just excel in a low pressure, low profile 2nd leg.

Now's where I change my mind on 3rd leg... Throw Maurice in there and have another 9.79 guy blasting away with a running start on the straight, then hand off to Carl -- another very good turn runner -- for his specialty.

Sub-36? A few 8.9 splits could do it...

Dan

[Conway]

Whoa !!! Ben, MJ, Mo, and Carl on the same relay ??? Disharmony city .. Two sets of the most intense rivalries ever in sport .. Sub 36 or crash and burn !!!

Counter with Mike Marsh, Calvin Smith, Leroy Burrell, and Dennis Mitchell .. Marsh pushes Smith through the zone better than Ben pushes MJ .. Calvin outruns MJ by .2 and executes precision handoff with Burrell .. Burrell loses .1 to Mo, but had gained .3 on handoff .. Lewis and Mitchell run even as Mitchell's turn ability makes up for waht would normally be Carl's close .. Team B wins in not so close race ...

[Dan]

No, no! You're the one that said MJ for the second leg. I stuck with Ato, with the MJ comments being that he probably wouldn't run the turn any faster than Ato and would surely result in a worsened team performance.

Dan