Summer Olympics 2000 Some track dynasties are no more

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Tuesday, September 19
Some track dynasties are no more
By Jeff Hollobaugh
Special to ESPN.com

Sometimes it seems like a recurrent theme in listserv circles: What's happened to American distance runners? Where is our sprint depth? And so on. The phenomenon is one acutely linked to the nature of human expectations.

In the same way we wonder why we personally can't run as fast as we used to, or why we can't fit into those jeans we bought last summer. As we all know, it's hard to settle for reality sometimes.

While we Americans have our complaints regarding what we perceive as our decline in various events, we don't have it nearly so bad as some nations.

Australia & New Zealand long for the old days
Case in point came this week in Australia, where the nation's top two 1,500 men battled at the Olympic Trials in a controversial race that officials demanded be run again. Nick Howarth won but was disqualified for pushing past Craig Mottram near the finish, causing his rival to fall.

Said the Sydney paper, "The re-run in Adelaide today has been billed as one of the biggest head-to-head middle-distance races since the days Herb Elliott and Merv Lincoln, respectively representing the vastly different coaching philosophies of Percy Cerrutty and Franz Stampfl, regularly battled for supremacy in the late 1950s."

What jumped out at me is the fact that more than 40 years later, Howarth and Mottram are not in the same league as their famous predecessors. Howarth has a best of 3:39.22, while Mottram, a former triathlete, has run 3:38.27. Elliott, recall, had a best of 3:35.6, the world record he set in winning the 1960 Olympic gold medal. Lincoln, ranked No. 2 in the world in 1958, had a 3:55.9 best for the mile, worth 3:37.9 for 1500.

Surely there are Australians who wonder what has been lost? What has changed? The national record is a creditable 3:31.96 from 1991, but last year, no one could better 3:36.

As for the much-awaited rematch, Mottram finished a dismal 10th, and Howarth finished second to little-known Youcef Abdi, who clocked a dismal 3:45.45. Now Australian officials are considering not entering anyone in the Olympic 1,500; no Australian has made the Olympic A standard of 3:36.80.

Across the Tasman Sea, in New Zealand, many look back wistfully to the days when Peter Snell, Murray Halberg, John Walker, Rod Dixon and Dick Quax were some of the dominating names of world distance running. They were products of the Lydiard System, a mileage-based training plan worked out by fabled coach Arthur Lydiard.

These days, Lydiard training is a bit passé. I rarely hear anyone mention it anymore, whereas 15 to 20 years ago it was being loudly trumpeted by Runners' World and other publications. Did it somehow stop working? Is that the perception in New Zealand, where a distance record hasn't fallen since 1984, and the record books are still dominated by "Arthur's Boys"?

Whither Finland?
Remember the Finnish domination of the distances in the early half of the last century, and the resurgence led by four-time Olympic champion Lasse Viren in the 1970s? Where are they now? Where are the new Paavo Nurmis?

Journalist and stat man Mel Watman has pointed out that of the 12 Olympic 5,000/10,000s from 1912 to 1936, Finns won 10. Yet not since Viren have we seen a Finnish champion in a running event. No major distance record has fallen since 1978. What's changed there?

The sport has become more international
I do not mean to browbeat smaller nations who have fallen upon hard times in some isolated respects. Rather, it's fitting to point out, as we approach the Sydney Games, that empires rise and fall as part of the natural cycle in all things human.

Dig out your old history books if you need a reminder. What have the Macedonians been up to since Alexander the Great? The Roman Empire is showing no signs of a comeback. And what have the Mongols done lately?

In some cases (both in track and history), the causes are easy to pinpoint; in others, endless debates lead nowhere.

It is foolish for any nation to assume that it will rule an event in track & field forever. Traditions die with great coaches. Situations change with economies and politics. Perhaps more importantly, the sport has gradually been internationalized since its early days. More and more nations than ever are focusing on track, in a large part thanks to the efforts of the late IAAF president, Primo Nebiolo, to bring more nations into the IAAF fold (more nations means more votes; Primo was no dummy).

Jeff Hollobaugh, former managing editor of Track and Field News, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached by e-mail at michtrack@aol.com.

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