Thanks for telling us what we just watched.

You’re welcome.

@@DadsvDadseh it’s actually not obvious to most people that his splits were even. It’s looks like the last 200 meters is flying fast.

He ran a positive split, so saved reserves on the opening lap for a very fast finish. He ran @54.3 seconds for the opening lap and @51.5 seconds for the last lap.

Seems like the Russian was bumped by the German illegally and the Russian lost 5m and then got bumped a second time going back. Without this bump the Russian would’ve be 5m clear at the finish. The Russian lost energy gaining back his position at 350m to go which then lost his sprint. The American was lucky. Being out of trouble and running even pace paid dividends for him.

@@APBCTechnique yes he was slightly bumped but this is not uncommon in races like this

@@418cjpaul I’ve never seen anyone run into another athlete from the bend. The Russian was impeded & fouled by the German. Not slightly bumped, he lost 5m instantly and then was bumped again going back. The American was totally just lucky. Without this foul he would have been second. Total gold medal winning fluke. Feel very sorry for the Russian as he was clearly the better runner. I’m not Russian or American. Watch the race from the Russians perspective next time.

@@APBCTechnique I watched again and I have to agree with you. unfortunately there was no solution which would be fair. the German could have been disqualified but that wouldn't have helped the Russian . not every wrong has a remedy

@@418cjpaul your right sadly.

2:07 is not bad. Our school record was 2:02.

Seems like the Russian was bumped by the German illegally and the Russian lost 5m and then got bumped a second time going back. Without this bump the Russian would’ve be 5m clear at the finish. The Russian lost energy gaining back his position at 350m to go which then lost his sprint. The American was lucky. Being out of trouble and running even pace paid dividends for him.

@@APBCTechnique Wottle said the Russian kicked earlier than usual which cost him.

@@APBCTechnique give it a rest already man, we get it, you're salty. Both he and Dave ran great races and were only .03 apart at the finish. Fantastic race for both, can we just leave it at that?

@@clarkfox6975 relook the race, be humble, not salty and you’ll see the American only win because of the foul by the German to the Russian. Or the Russian would have won by 5m

I watched on TV when it happened. Still amazed.

He was actually the World Record holder at the time - 1:44.3 on the July 1st 1972.

That is absolutly banging mate! Last to 1st!

Seems like the Russian was bumped by the German illegally and the Russian lost 5m and then got bumped a second time going back. Without this bump the Russian would’ve be 5m clear at the finish. The Russian lost energy gaining back his position at 350m to go which then lost his sprint. The American was lucky. Being out of trouble and running even pace paid dividends for him.

@@gezza7560 Hats off to the 'Throttle'.

Me too Gerry, and I also ran track/cc there back in the early 80's. Dave would come back yearly for team alumni gatherings, great guy!

Mine too, same age! Wottle was so cool and audacious, fantastic.

Coe/Ovett final was not good at all. There was little drama because Coe ran a terrible race.

In an interview he said he couldn’t keep pace, he was able to catch the group on lap 2 when no one wanted the lead.

Seems like the Russian was bumped by the German illegally and the Russian lost 5m and then got bumped a second time going back. Without this bump the Russian would’ve be 5m clear at the finish. The Russian lost energy gaining back his position at 350m to go which then lost his sprint. The American was lucky. Being out of trouble and running even pace paid dividends for him.

If you ever focus on Wottle, he actually holds steady. The difference was that everyone in front of him went out too fast. Yes, he said he would have done it too if he could, but it definitely worked out for him, and he never gave up. In the American coverage doing color commentary, Liquori even notices the field coming back by the bell and thinks by then he might have a good shot.

Second best finish after the Women's 4 x 400 relay 1969 Euro champs Besson v Board

Yeah, Wottle has admitted luck definitely played a role. He says if Arzhanov wouldn’t have kicked so early, he would never have caught him.​@@APBCTechnique

The 72 Olympics were awesome. Both 76 and 80 suffered from boycotts and those after (non-amateur ones) from drug misuse

I think it had to do more with his planning, Wottle always had a strong kick at the end and always timed it to help him.

You run your race, not your opponent’s

I agree. I've watched it a few times as well and Wottle does indeed win most of the time it seems.

One of these days his luck will run out.

Seems like the Russian was bumped by the German illegally and the Russian lost 5m and then got bumped a second time going back. Without this bump the Russian would’ve be 5m clear at the finish. The Russian lost energy gaining back his position at 350m to go which then lost his sprint. The American was lucky. Being out of trouble and running even pace paid dividends for him.

@@alnika6153 Dude. Do the math. This race was 50 years ago 😬🤦‍♀️

Favorite? Any other 2 lap races you know exist besides this one? Lol

@@dadman8474 Yes. There’s dozens of high quality 800m races run every year both in championship settings and on the Pro Circuit. This one has stood out for me as one of the best races in history where the runners competed over 2 laps. If we’re talking about different 2 lap race distances, there’s also some great indoor 400m races that are exciting to watch, I’d recommend the latest NCAA indoor track championships.

@@dadman8474bro what are you not aware of the entire sport of track and field

@@Ekzotika-g8wlast time I checked the 800m is the only 2 lap race. The sentence just was not constructed properly

@@brantlauweryssen743I did overlook indoor but I assumed most people watching only considered outdoor 400m tracks only to be legitimate

Well please share with us what Wottle had done prior to 1972?

@@RK-um9tu world leading 800m time prior to the games.

Seems like the Russian was bumped by the German illegally and the Russian lost 5m and then got bumped a second time going back. Without this bump the Russian would’ve be 5m clear at the finish. The Russian lost energy gaining back his position at 350m to go which then lost his sprint. The American was lucky. Being out of trouble and running even pace paid dividends for him.

Me too. No one else like 'white lightning'.

David Rudisha was better

He was a great 400m man as well.

This still gives me goosebumps every time I see it and with the great David Coleman's commentary (did he win, I think he did).

Seems like the Russian was bumped by the German illegally and the Russian lost 5m and then got bumped a second time going back. Without this bump the Russian would’ve be 5m clear at the finish. The Russian lost energy gaining back his position at 350m to go which then lost his sprint. The American was lucky. Being out of trouble and running even pace paid dividends for him.

Arzhanov was the heavy favorite going into this race so, yes, Wottle knew he would be his strongest opponent.

@@normanlinden5786 And what I find often gets left out in these discussions was that at the time of that race Wottle was the co-World Record holder @ 800m, yes he had been hurt after the Olympic Trials [where he tied the World Record] but in many ways he was still the class of the field. He has candidly admitted in many interviews that the fact the first lap was 52 and not 50 allowed him to be in position to kick for the win.

@@carlrossi7989 - excellent post. So many times I've read articles or watched videos of this race and the writers seem to imply that he was a virtual unknown going in and his win was a huge upset. As "TheCitroenCX" noted above, Wottle ran a tactically brilliant race.

He ran about 26.4 - 26.5 for each 200. Same pace the whole race. They went fast the first 200 and paid for it the last 200.

Seems like the Russian was bumped by the German illegally and the Russian lost 5m and then got bumped a second time going back. Without this bump the Russian would’ve be 5m clear at the finish. The Russian lost energy gaining back his position at 350m to go which then lost his sprint. The American was lucky. Being out of trouble and running even pace paid dividends for him.

The Russian had a bad race and was unlucky to be bumped

it wasn't

@@diskoeric2248 it appears to be @ 51 seconds on the last lap. ifirst lap @ 54-55.

Good point about Andy Carter. Also, if he'd run wide of the Polish athlete instead of losing momentum in the home straight, he would probably have got 4th.

@@bigbadjohn61 Yes they both got tangled up.

Actually Coe was closer to Ovett. Coe only ran the final 100m 0.1 faster than Ovett despite having Ovett as an open target (although that Deano character will claim Coe made up 15m over the last 70m lol). Coe's problem was that it was a 'slow' pace along with a very, very strong Ovett running a 50.8 final lap. Coe needed a fast race, but he let the field go out slowly giving everyone else a chance. Coe was not the best tactically over 800m despite his abilities. He had a bit more room for error over the 1500 obviously. Had Coe taken the field out in 49 - 50 in Moscow he'd probably have pulled off the double.

Yes having looked at the two races I can see that Coe was closer to Ovett than Wottle was to the leader. The earlier pace was also much slower in 1980 (over two seconds at the bell is significant). Ovett was also in excellent form and superior to the 1972 field. However, I think Coe's 400m speed was superior to Ovett's (46 sec 400m/45 sec relay I think), and he would have beaten Ovett if he'd been on his shoulder coming off the final bend. A 49-50 second pace at the bell, though it destroyed Coe in 1978, might have won him the race because Ovett could not handle a very fast pace (pb just outside 1:44), though the question is whether that pace would have affected Coe more if he had led. Would certainly be interesting to hear Deano's take lol. In his defence, he does back up much of what he says with stats.

Coe did not run a positive race. His 1500m was a positive, I will win attitude.

You assume wrong. The last lap of the 1980 800m was 50.8 seconds the fastest last 400m in an major 800m. Coe was finishing fast but Ovett had 5m on him at the bell. Coe’s last 200m was under 25 seconds. Seems like the Russian was bumped by the German illegally and the Russian lost 5m and then got bumped a second time going back. Without this bump the Russian would’ve be 5m clear at the finish. The Russian lost energy gaining back his position at 350m to go which then lost his sprint. The American was lucky. Being out of trouble and running even pace paid dividends for him.

@@APBCTechnique Coe was probably a half meter behind Ovett at the bell. Ultimately is doesn't much matter, because Coe lost and Wottle won. You've commented many times about the Russian getting bumped. There's a lot of what-ifs that could be played here. What if everyone had run their fastest time? Wottle, the world record holder at the time, would won by a decent margin. You say lucky, I say he wasn't foolish enough to try to go all out the first 200m of the race, stayed out of trouble, and finished well. All while battling tendinitis in his knee.