My uncle Zygmunt Zabierzowski from Poland was Juantorena's personal head coach

The horse. Tough as cheap steak.

@@woffer3881 what was his training?

@@Gnomebe track & field 400 m and 800 m to Montreal Olimpics

@@woffer3881 yes.

good times

Its funny what you remember..... Ovetts shirt disappearing into the distance at 300 to go in a 15 (Southern counties champs uk 84)...... its then you realise the reality of a god given talent..

Great story, thanks for sharing!

Thanks for mentioning Peter Elliot, he would have got an Olympic medal in the 1500 (1984) had he been allowed to go and probably Gold as at that point he was better than Coe.

ewaf88 my cousin said he beat cook easily in school days

I think Coe too, was not particularly good as a schoolboy...deliberate ploy to mature late, I've always thought

ewaff88 Well said. I couldn't agree more.

@@archiewoosung5062 I wasn't that quick at school and could run national level later. Some people are behind others. Coe never trained that hard really. Watched him in the gym and it was a lot of face pulling doing next to zilch. You only saw the magic on the track.

i remember he married kathy smallwood she was pretty useful at 100 200 and later 400

"The Horse" Yes! He was quite the specimen back in the day. =)

ok....still a breakneck pace...oxygen debt must have been tremendous at 600 meters!

49.74 at 400 meters!

a fast race!

Cruz was 23.6 for the first 200 in LA in '84.

I ran a 1 59 in 1983. If I had known I only needed to improve by 17 seconds I would have trained one more year.

Did Coe ever race Cruz again after the LA Olympics? If they did I can't recall it.

@@Sean-zg4iy Good point - I don't think so

@@Sean-zg4iy kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ndBng8eb282-qWg.html

@@Sean-zg4iyyes in 1985 in cologne I believe, Cruz won in 1:42.5 ish from Coe 1:43.07

Yes, and had he not gone out too quickly, he probably would have won in '88. Unfortunately, his left leg was several cm shorter than the right, causing chronic foot injuries. He never again reached his '84 level, although he was perhaps at 80% in '85 and late '88.

Yes and sad to see really.

@@stevebbuk The bad injury he had in 1983 didn't help.

@@Ruda-n4h he had had injuries starting in 1974, when for the first time he had to to go through a surgery in one foot which kept him away from tracks for several months into 1975. He was not a lucky athlete.

John Rogan At his best a brilliant runner and ahead of his time.

Nothing presents strength, grace, and endurance like the stride of Alberto....a once in a lifetime athlete....he started in basketball...Peter Snell was originally a tennis player....the competitive aspects of these two great athletes and role models was nurtured in their other sports activities. Only a few really race against each other...most just fall into the same pace regardless of the outcome...Dave Wottle....what a fluke gold medal! In his own world....Jim Ryan was a great competitor also!

Couldn't agree more. His nickname was "el caballo" or "the horse" because of his sheer size and power. He was definitely a freak of nature as it was unheard of for a middle distance runner to be built like that back in those days.

This was 8 years after winning Olympic gold. Most Olympic champions now days are long gone by then. He was a fantastic runner!

@@666zerowolf I agree with everything you said except for Dave Wottle's win being a fluke. He earned that gold medal. Also, it's Jim Ryun. Not Ryan.

This final in 2012 was faster. 8th place was 1:43.77. First place was 1:40.91. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/j7F1gs2IquC6d6c.html

Silver medal in what, in 1988?

@@archiewoosung5062 1988 Olympic 800m.

@@redrum4100 According to Wiki; Medalists: Paul Ereng, Joaquim Cruz, Saïd Aouita kzfaq.info/get/bejne/e8Vjp7yJxtXUdKM.html

@@archiewoosung5062 I was referencing Cruz.

Juantorena's prime didn't last more than two years because of injuries even before Montreal 76. For 1984 his career had been already finished for several years. But he had no choice, even in the case he didn't feel fit, he had to participate in competitions if that was what the Communist Party decided.

@@juliomiguel6597 In Helsinki 1983 he broke his leg. I was a kid reading about this "great champion of the past whose career is probably terminated", but he came back, still showed class despite age.

@@scouter-xn6zi I was a kid back in Cuba when he was in his prime. The most beautiful 400 m and 800 m races i have ever seen. Despite his physical assets, he had a big handicap for an athlete. flat feet. This warranted him injuries from the very beginning of his career. In fact it is almost unbelievable he got to be the best athlete in the planet for two years.

After the Olympic gold I think everyone thought the record was his for the taking...I assumed his falling off was because they couldn't care less about athletics in Brazil.

@@archiewoosung5062 Or maybe he was just had 1 outstanding season. He was still competing as late as 96. Coe didnt have this quality of field when he set the WR in 81.

If Coe had a field like this in ‘81 … laughable to think what he might have achieved.

This was the greatest gathering of 800m athlete ever assembled up until now.

With a pacemaker....

That was me, I beat it by 2 seconds 1 week before that meeting but I failed my drugs test.

You are correct, the record was 1:41,73

Steve Martin cruz had just run 1:41'77"!!!!!! 1984 after winning 800 at the Olympics

nowhere near? cruz just missed it and without a pacemaker

@@TheMrbc74 In this race?

nowadays its sub 41 a sub 140 has to be like the 4 minute mile of old

Pacemaker with no experience. Often the case at these events.

Looks to me he did a fine job, Cruz was the only athlete to be able to stick with him and he brought him through to within fighting distance of WR. Didn't notice him drop out but was prob lined up for P/M role.

amazing a country so mad on football produced such a great 800m runner

only coes pb was faster than that so no

Cruz would have won anyway. He had just comfortably beaten Coe at the Olympics and Ovett and Cram were never as fast as that over 800m.