Fastest UK 800m since 1990

I used to love watching the athletics as a kid.
During 1988 Olympics in Seoul I thought Ben Johnson was amazing.
Then I quickly lost all interest for some reason.
 
Smoginexile said:
I used to love watching the athletics as a kid.
During 1988 Olympics in Seoul I thought Ben Johnson was amazing.
Then I quickly lost all interest for some reason.
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I was at university at the time and one of the athletes in our Halls of Residence was a sprinter. He always doubted him as he'd run faster than Ben Johnson had in his late teens. Then for some now apparent reason Johnson's performance had a step change.
 
Here he is winning the UKA Championships in style. And, if you haven't seen it yet, the interview with Iwan Thomas afterwards is class. Nice to see my club's vest on the tellybox.

 
I can do 800m on a good day in about 2:45-2:50.
For me to knock just 10-15 seconds off that would be a huge undertaking.
I just can’t comprehend how these athletes do it in almost half the time and make it look so easy!
 
gramercy said:
I can do 800m on a good day in about 2:45-2:50.
For me to knock just 10-15 seconds off that would be a huge undertaking.
I just can’t comprehend how these athletes do it in almost half the time and make it look so easy!
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I watch him in training all the time and it really is hard to grasp how he covers the ground so quickly in such a relaxed way. His Dad was the same... a real glider who gave Seb Coe a bit of a fright in the Yorkshire Champs once. Weirdly, when he hits that high cruising speed, his heart rate actually drops.
 
borolad259 said:
I watch him in training all the time and it really is hard to grasp how he covers the ground so quickly in such a relaxed way. His Dad was the same... a real glider who gave Seb Coe a bit of a fright in the Yorkshire Champs once. Weirdly, when he hits that high cruising speed, his heart rate actually drops.
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Great performance
I do always smile at the pundits who, as he is gasping for breath after that brilliant win, talk about his 'natural' talent.

I suspect the lad has trained, and trained and worked his socks off to get to a 1.43
Talent? oh yes.... but he's earned it
 
1finny said:
Great performance
I do always smile at the pundits who, as he is gasping for breath after that brilliant win, talk about his 'natural' talent.

I suspect the lad has trained, and trained and worked his socks off to get to a 1.43
Talent? oh yes.... but he's earned it
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Natural talent is the starting point though. You need that along with commitment, mental strength and luck. You also have to be single minded.
My son held a number of north east records across a number of disciplines from the age of 12-17, he trained pretty hard but was a little more focused on his academic work and his ambitions to be a vet.
 
Bernie's view said:
Natural talent is the starting point though. You need that along with commitment, mental strength and luck. You also have to be single minded.
My son held a number of north east records across a number of disciplines from the age of 12-17, he trained pretty hard but was a little more focused on his academic work and his ambitions to be a vet.
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You may have a point (not sure to be fair)
But there is a maxim
’Hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard’

Lets agree its a combination?
 
I think Kratochvilovas womens 800m record is 40 years old next year.
Nobody has ever got near to it.
A magnificent effort from a 32 year old who was pretty mediocre in her career until a year or two before


Maybe she was just a late developer 😉
 
1finny said:
You may have a point (not sure to be fair)
But there is a maxim
’Hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard’

Lets agree its a combination?
Click to expand...

He certainly has good genes. His Grandad, who was my mentor as a coach, was running a 3 hour marathon aged 70. His Dad was a 1:48 800 runner. When I first saw Max, aged 8 or 9, with no real training behind him, he was already significantly better than his peers (including my lad, who had won all his races until he came up against Max).
 
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