On the "greatest meets" thread, rhymans mentioned this, which I figure deserves a separate thread:
<<Best duels - Gebre-Tergat ('96 and 2000), Szewinska-Koch and Boit-Juantorena ('77 World Cup), Lewis-Powell ('91 Tokyo) and Sedykh-Litvinov ('86 Euros)>>
For a start, let me toss in Lewis-Johnson in both '87 and '88. (Forget the doping aspect, I'm looking at them from the perspective of real time and what they meant then)
Those were particularly great becuase they were each 4-round duels and it was fascinating to watch even the normally boring heats because the mind games and who-looks-how-good thinking started early. Not sure I've ever enjoyed sprinting more. (Even though on both occasions I was convinced that Lewis couldn't lose!)
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greatest duels ever?
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greatest duels ever?
Based on duels I've actually seen (I was 5 and 6 years old during Rome and Seoul, respectively), and as a jumper on the side, I'd have to put my vote in for Lewis-Powell '91. That said, after having spent plenty of time reading about the Lewis-Johnson clashes (both in their respective books, and in several back issues of T&FN), and having watched many of the races online, I am certain there was plenty of excitement there as well.
I don't know if a one day 2 lap race would qualify in anyone's book. If it does, great, I'll include the 2001 Brussels Golden League clash between Mr. Borzakovskiy and Mr. Bucher into the mix. If it doesn't, it still ranks with prestige in mine.
Mr. Bucher won the IAAF final in Edmonton, a race which Mr. Borzakovskiy skipped in his early career. Mr. Bucher entered Brussels with an outdoor unbeaten streak and a share of the jack pot. Mr. Bucher, running with the command he had demonstrated all season, took the lead midway through the 2nd lap. Mr. Borzakovskiy, running his 9th lifetime race against Mr. Bucher, didn't make a move until the curve. Coming down the final straight, in view of screaming fans eyeing the clock and a fast-approaching Mr. Borzakovskiy, Mr. Bucher began tying up with 50m to go. Mr. Borzakovskiy snuck on by Mr. Bucher and won in a lifetime best 142 in what has become my most thrilling race as a fan. They'd conclude their rivalry 10-all in the 20 races they finished against each other.
Just a few for consideration from my own fading memories...
* Lewis/Powell in 1991 - Tokyo * Decker-Slaney vs. (fill in the name) Russians in 1983 - Helsinki * Lewis/Johnson in 1987 in Rome and 1988 in Seoul * The 3 man finish in the 400 m. hurdles in Rome * Bayi/Walker in the 1974 Commonwealth Games * Mills/Gammoudi/Clarke in 1964 in Tokyo * USA B Team in the 4 x 100 beating the USA team, both in the same time - Victoria, B.C., 1968. (Mays, Questad, Carlos, T. Smith) over (Greene, Pender, RR Smith, Hines)... * Canadian 4 x 100 Men's team vs. whoever in 1996 - Atlanta ( 1994, 1995, and 1997 weren't bad either)
Yeah, for a field event freak, that was the ultimate. There were also some great Powell- Wilkins duels, but I think that was a different Powell. Stuttgart 86 Dec, Thompson-Hingsen, also tres cool.
Doug Padilla Vs. Nyambui in the 1981 NCAA indoor 2-mile.
This race is rather obscure compared to the other duels being mentioned, but anyone who saw it will agree it was a beauty. And, of course, BYU fans like me will never forget it...'cause Padilla pulled off the impossible upset.
Yes, that should be way up on the list, agreed!
Although when this happened and I was just reading reports of it in T&FN I thought of this as a duel, but after watching the video of the whole race a couple of years ago I no longer think of this as a duel. It was more like Bayi against the field. Jipcho and Dixon had just as good a shot as Walker. Easily the best 1500 I have ever seen - I love the front runners!
Needs:
1) Anticipated 2) Close 3) and not just at the end 4) big mark(s) Judged by these standards, nothing tops the '91 Worlds long jump. Even after Powell set his WR, he didn't think he had it in the bag because Lewis had come back so many times over the years. Only the '60 Olympic decathlon comes close. That London marathon (I forget what year) when Geb and Tergat were supposed to battle it out, and Khannouchi went by them both near the end to set a new WR, was also a great one.
Rome '84 with Vigneron jumping a WR of 5.91 followed by Bubka 10 minutes later with a 5.94 WR.
Nothing in my experience tops that either. I also clearly remember the hangover I had the next morning, which was directly correlated with the level of the LJ competition!
Yes, except, Walker was a 4:06 miler in 1973, until he ran 3:59 in our little Meet in Victoria, winning the B section by a long way. In other words, he was just arriving at that level, and it was he that had the b+lls to set out after Bayi, which, just from a personal level, left a big impression on me. But you are right, it was Bayi against the World....still a pretty good duel, and it was hard front-running at it's finest, for sure...
Agreed. I watched it live and was very late for work. The Hingsen Thompson battles were always interesting. Little room for error in those decathlons.
The Stadium in Tokyo was electrified during that competition, absolutely... And that doesn't even count the 90,000 Fuji flash cameras, that captured all the drama... There was a serious light show, just from the cameras...
Coe - Ovett Moscow 1980 1500m final - build up was practically hysterical in the uk at the time. Great race though poor time perhaps disqualifies this.
Cram - Aouita Nice 1985 - the real deal. Great build up , evenly matched opponents and incredibly close (4 hundredths in it at the end). Cram - Coe Oslo Mile 1985 - ditto the Nice race above though result was less in doubt when Crammy took off with 200 to go. I still think Cram is underrated - at his best he would have held his own with Morceli. Hagg v Andersson - all of their races (especially in '44 and '45 when Andersson actually started beating Hagg) were massively hyped. Great description of one of them in Norman Harris' The Lonely Breed. And finally........bit offended nobody put this down but hey it was a long time ago.... Lovelock v Cunningham Berlin Olympic 1500m 1936 - an epic that might have been even better had Sydney Wooderson not been injured. Full race is shown in Riefenstahl's Olympia. GREAT race.
How could I forget this one? Gebrselassie v Bekele Paris 2003 10,000m final - what a race that was! Sihine right up there too for 23 laps. Amazing - my favourite ever 10,000 m if only for Cram's amazement as the 61 second laps mount up!
Almost a century has passed since, but on any list of duels with Finns involved, I can't think of anything topping Kolehmainen vs. Bouin 5K at '12 OG. Expectations (at least in France and Finland), Olympic setting, high quality (going way under 5K and 3 mile WRs), ultra-tight competition, Finnish upset victory
To top it off, the race also had the reigning Olympic champion, Luigi Beccali.
Pre-Lindgren 1969? Pac-8 cross country on Standford golf course. Running lock step for six miles, 200 yards in front of 3rd place.To my young eyes it looked like they were sprinting the whole way. A photo finish in a 6 mile cross country race?!!!
For me, for it to be a duel, it favours the field events, and the long distances. Sprints of course count, but more when it's over rounds as gh sites in his Lewis vs Johnson example, or when there are two athletes that have been close all season.
Feofanova vs Dragila in Edmonton was one that comes to my mind as a great duel. It was tit for tat the whole way - great comp. Another two, both invloving Kostadinova, were the 88 and 96 Olympics. In 88 neither her nor Ritter could go higher, so it was back down in heights...very nail biting. Equally in Atlanta she had a great duel (to a point) with Bakoyianni.
Noah Ngeny and El Guerrouj 1999-2000. They had some epic battles.
Thats a great one with Lagat inching ahead with 60m to go until El G finds one more gear.
I forgot about that one. It should be high up on any list, especially given it was effectively El G's final chance. The final 100m was as good as it gets.
This thread could be made into a great movie, if was commentated with full and appropriately dramatic overviews, and the buildups towards many of the various battles referred to...Who should direct it, and comment on it? No, not you, Marlow.... 
Chariots of Fire would pale by comparison....
gh, can you tell the people about the Evans vrs. McGrady indoor battles at 660 and 600m? They wont believe me cause i'm a nut...anyone else have the prviledge to see these two giants battle?
I don't remember any 660's, but their indoor duels at other distances were classics. The 600y at the National Indoor Championships in 1970 remains one of the most exciting races I've ever seen. Yes, SQUACKEE, it was a privilege to be there.
Thanx for responding tandfman, my memory is probably wrong, Was it 600 yards? Did they run that a lot in those days?
I saw 2 or 3 battles - up close (on the infield). Some of the best head to head battles of the giants. Evans - WR holder 400m, Olympic Gold Medalist x2 - on paper should have never lost AND McGrady should have never won. Mcgrady seemed to have his number, yet did little outdoors.
I would put those battles in my top 5 - maybe even #1. the atmosphere was electric - after Martin beat Lee the first time - subsequent showdowns were showcases for everything that is track - incredible - one of those bigg - bigg buzzes throughout the stands. They never failed to produce. Big buzzzzzzz after the races as well. Hard to imagine anything coming close to the drama, sheer talent and 'clever' brutal racing. Always thought that the eyes were one of the tell tale signs about who was going to win a given race - McGrady had those wild ones and Evans that determined look of a man on a mission to reclaim his alpha standing I'm gonna go run some speed work - if only I could
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