Ovett, Coe, and Cram. Who's the greatest?

As a distance runner we learn to cherish the precious time we don't spend training.

Because unlike sprinters who like to natter on about the latest in hair products and lycra during the extensive periods of rest they get in workouts, a real distance runners best work is done lazing about after a run, spending what little money we have on coffee and discussing the ways of the world.

Invariably discussion (arguments) evolve from global conspiracy theories (moon landings/ 9-11), to tales of former glories and eventually on to the runners classic “who was the greatest out of the Coe, Ovett and Cram” deliberation.

Luckily it's conversation that never gets old. This great trio came from an era where bell bottom jeans were cool, where drugs – though existent, were hardly prevalent and where track and field athletes were arguably the most globally recognisable sports men and women. They jumped on the bandwagon started by Walker, Quax and Dixon, assumed the drivers seat and proceeded to drive track and field at break neck speeds into an unprecedented era of sponsorship money, television and tabloid interest. They are three of the greatest middle distance runners the world has and ever will see and they (somewhat lamentably) were all English.

So the million dollar question is who was really the best – who was the greatest?  The beauty is we all have our personal favourites which usually manifest in two different ways – the guy our heart believes was the best and the guy our head concedes was the best. The irony being we usually end up changing our minds depending on whose biography or youtube exploit we last appreciate.

Let's be honest and begrudgingly concede that this particular question is essentially impossible to answer for the sheer weight of criteria it contains. Should we concentrate solely on personal bests and number of world records? How about racing temperament and championship results? What about the basic and pure talent for running – something that is evident to the ardent athletics follower by way of an effortless and flowing stride even at the most pressing of speeds? There's only one way to find out...

Steve Ovett was a precocious talent from Brighton and the anointed (and self-embraced) bad boy of this glorious era as he was vilified by the British Press but loved by his peers. Ovett first sprung to attention in the European Junior 800 metres championship of 1973 which he won ahead of the later inaugural 800 meters World Champion Willi Wuelbeck of Germany. A year later he ran the British mile record at Crystal Palace beating the Olympic champion John Walker and won silver at the European senior championships over 800 meters.

Despite not having the range of Coe when it came to record breaking, Ovett still set four world records over the 1500m and mile. However one could fully put the case forward that Ovett was a more ruthless tactician and better racer than both Cram and Coe – having a ridiculous winning streak of 42 races in 1500/mile races between 1977 and 1980. When you consider the level of talent in this era, that record is quite outstanding as Ovett regularly lined up against the likes of John Walker, Mike Boit, Thomas Wessinghage, Ray Flynn, Steve Scott and of course Sebastian Coe – the man who eventually ended the streak in the 1980 1500 meters final. On paper the best example of Ovetts ruthless racing pedigree was the 1980 Olympic 800 meters final where despite being a full two seconds slower on paper than Coe, his well-placed elbows and precise shunting of the pack put him in perfect position to “steal” the title from under the nose of his countryman.

However the most impressive piece of running from Ovett may not have come at these Olympic Games nor during his world record totes, but rather at the World Cup 1500 meters race in Dusseldorf 1977. After chop-striding 1200 meters of the race, Ovett unleashed a 100 meter burst of such ridiculously easy speed that took him from 1300 meters to 1400 meters in only 12.1 seconds after which he proceeded to wave and smile up the home straight - eventually clocking 3.34.45 (a British record at the time and just outside the European record). Wessinghage said that from behind it was the most unbelievable thing he had ever see in his running career, Walker simply stepped off the track for the first and only time in his career. Ovett was a truly magnificent racer (even winning a Commonwealth Games title over 5000 meters to go along with his Olympic and European Gold’s (800 and 1500m respectively). Ovetts pedigree is without question and he was certainly the most “classically” trained miler of the three choosing to concentrate on 100-110 miles a week at steady pace and gaining his strength from more fartlek/tempo based work and doing far less track work than either Coe or Cram – even going so far as to run a half marathon a week before his blockbusting 1977 World Cup victory.

It's hard to single out a four time (two for both the 1500m and mile) world record holder as not  having blazing top-end time trialling ability, but Ovett simply didn't have the same excellence as either Coe or Cram when it came to out and out time trialling, as the personal best résumés of all three athletes allude to this. Both Coe and Cram ran under 1min43 seconds for 800 meters, under 2min13 seconds for 1000 meters, under 3min30 and 3min48 for the 1500 meters and mile respectively. Despite Ovett’s brilliance, he could simply not match that (1.44.09, 2.15.91, 3.30.77 and 3.48.40).

But it was never records that motivated Ovett – it was simply winning races. For many that will be the enduring memory of Ovett – that Cheshire cat-like grin as his barrel-chested figure blasted off many a final turn and the cheeky wave and gesticulating as he opened up his rakey stride on way to victory after victory. The fact that just as Ovett was beginning to truly dominate world middle distance running, a shy, studious and equally quick contemporary training out of Loughborough was slowly putting his act together – an act that would rival Ovett’s and send interest in track and field to new and completely unexpected heights...

It's hard to look past Sebastian Coe and with good reason. The eight time world record holder over 800, 1000, 1500 and one mile is considered by many to be not only the greatest of this fantastic British triumvirate, but arguably the greatest middle distance runner of all time. He was the Batman sent to neutralise Ovett the joker and their battle – in particular heading into the Moscow Olympics, is arguably the most intense one on one rivalry ever seen in British sport.

Not only did he set eight world records - one of which stood the best part of sixteen years (the 800 metres), but he is also the only repeat Olympic champion over the 1500 metres (1980 and 84), a European champion over 800 meters and has also a plethora of silver medals over 800 metres (Olympic Games twice and European Champs once) and 1500 metres (European Championships). His running form was deemed “poetry in motion” by many and his training methods that were devised by his brilliant yet borderline maniacal father Peter were deemed as revolutionary as thousands of athletes in the last twenty or so years have argued relentlessly as just how much (or little) mileage Coe really did. One thing is certain – Coe's record as a time trial ace is nearly without peer. Sure there have been fantastic rabbit hunters in recent memory - Kipketer, Morceli and El Guerrouj come to mind in the true middle distance (800-1500 metres) events, but none of them can compete with Coe who did it over ALL of the disciplines and with far less help (as pacemaking was not a well-paid profession within the sport like it is these days). On the surface Coe's championship record appears second to none – once again it is hard to argue with back to back Olympic Gold medals in arguably one of the two most all round competitive events in track (and indeed all of world sport) – the men’s 800 and 1500 metres, but a closer look at the results would tend to slightly disagree.

Of nine finals Coe contested between 1978 and 1990 (the eilte racing span of Coes career) he was victorious in just three of them. Granted Coe did what neither the aforementioned Kipketer, Morceli and El Guerrouj ever attempted (doubling up 800 and 1500 meters at major event and that can't be overlooked), but there are certainly races in which one just can't help but think Coe should have won regardless. The most obvious is the 1980 Olympic 800 meters final where he was found “tactically inept” (by his own and fathers admission) losing out to Steve Ovett, but more interestingly Coe goes a rather disappointing “one for four” at the European Championships over 800-1500m – his only victory coming over 800 metres in Stuttgart 1986. Coe in his biography “Running Free” makes no bones about his underlying motivation in the sport – pushing the boundaries of his own limits and those of middle distance running to levels never seen before.

Perhaps the one thing that held Coe back the most (if he could ever be considered to have been held back) was the fact that he was highly intelligent and almost cared too much. It sounds paradoxical but sometimes in a sport like track and field where ultimately the athlete is on his/her own during the times when it matters most, it can almost be a disadvantage to not be over-calculating and/or over-analytical. Indeed losses like the 1980 Olympic 800 metres (to Ovett), the 1982 European 800 metres (to Hans-Peter Ferner) and the 1986 European 1500 metres (to Cram) are hardly due to lack of physical talent and ability. Coe’s relationship with his father was also unusual in an era where middle distance athletes were above all great friends and comrades. Nothing unusual in a father coaching his son, but more-so that Coe preferred to keep very much within the tightly knit two-some – something that didn't really endear him to his fellow milers.

Ultimately Sebastian Coe is the best 800m/1500m doubler since Peter Snell and in the current climate of seemingly pure 800 meters / 1500 metres specialists, he may be the last of the great dual middle distance exponents capable of record breaking at both disciplines and also major championship winning. Like many his career was cut short due to the inevitable breaking down through illness and injury and the emergence of a curly haired Geordie from England's North East...

If Steve Ovett was the great tactician and personality, Sebastian Coe the great time trialler and boundary breaker – where does that leave Steve Cram? Perhaps the great talent and the most talented of the three? That's a big call to make, but it's not without substance. Despite Coes “poetry in motion” and Ovetts raw power, its arguable that none of them looked as good at top speed as the “stately” Steve Cram as his high knees and rangey stride dominated the mid to latter part of the 80's European circuit. Cram burst on to the international scene as a 19 year old, featuring in the 1980 Olympic 1500m final famously won by Coe and from there went on to become the inaugural World Champion over 1500 metres and the first man to break 3.30 for the 1500 metres and 3.47 for the mile respectively. He was also world record holder over 2000m – something that neither Coe nor Ovett can lay claim to. His talent was such that little more than 4 weeks out from those Helsinki World Championships, Cram was lacing up his spikes for the first time back from injury to even see if he would be capable of competing. Proving his fitness turned out to be a mere 1.45.03 time trial at a hastily organised meet in Gateshead.

At his peak, Cram was not just a devastating miler, but an equally devastating 800 metre runner despite never really focussing on the event. He holds a personal best of 1.42.88 in defeating the then Olympic Champion Joaquim Cruz in Zurich 1985, but may never have been better over this distance when he won the Commonwealth Games on a blustery afternoon in Edinburgh 1986. On that day Cram coasted for a first lap in 51.8 seconds and no one EVER looked so good coming round the final bend as Cram did that day on route to the easiest 1.43.22 800 metres run you will likely ever see. On this day it is debatable whether anyone in history could have beaten Cram. Such was the ease, elegance and circumstances of this run.

If there is one criticism of Cram it is that like Coe he perhaps never quite won as many big races as his talent suggested he could of. Cram was a far more genial character than the deeply intense Coe and swashbuckling, brash Ovett. You just couldn't help but feel that with Cram he lacked that absolute killer instinct to push him over the edge and become truly unbeatable. Indeed in his biography ‘Steve Cram – The Making of an Athlete’ readily alludes to his life outside of running and how he would “rather be playing professional football for Sunderland.” You get the feeling that by comparison, running the 800 metres and mile faster than anyone in existence was the beginning and end for Coe and demoralising and embarrassing his competitors with the sit and supercharged kick was the modus operandi for Ovett.

Cram also proved to be mechanically the most fragile of the bunch – perhaps a function of his rangey figure and pretty high-stepping stride. Whereas Coe and Ovett’s problems were more health related (the infamous Coe “blood virus” and the equally infamous Ovett “respiratory” issues), it was Cram's achilles in particular that stunted his charge into the late 80's and early 90's, where he could have become what Ovett had been to the early late 70's and early 80's.

Somewhat fortunately for Cram and unfortunately for us, his arrival as a genuine world beater coincided with the tapering off of the careers of his two middle distance great countrymen – the two Olympic 1500m finals (1980 and 1984) were the only races where all three greats faced each other. Ovett and Coe dominating the late 70's and early 80's whereas Cram was undoubtedly at his best in the mid to late 80's. Despite his brilliance, injuries blunted his super sharp talent and one can only wonder with particular regards to his 800 metre ability if he had really focussed on the event how close he could have got to running under 1 minute 42 seconds. Not that it really matters, as any athlete with 1min42 – 4min51 range over 800m-2000m is certainly a once in a generation talent, and Steve Cram may ultimately just have been that.

So there it is. Coe the ruthless, punishing front runner, Ovett the remorseless, calculating tactician and Cram the insouciant, mercurial super talent. It's funny because as I write these words for each of these great athletes I keep asking myself if the attributes I have loosely tagged to each of them don't really apply better to another of the three. That more than anything else shows just what a fruitless venture it is trying to label these guys because simply put they were all champions and all great. So are the hours of debating, reminiscing and arguing whilst downing over-priced coffee worth it? Of course it is. It's far better than arguing about protein supplements and the merits of full body shaving. It also helps prove once and for all that if anything can be concluded after all the permutations and scenarios are played out, John Walker of New Zealand is still the greatest of them all.