800 Meters - Steve Cram vs Joachim Cruz - Zurich, 1985.mp4

Zurich, 1985. Steve Cram, fresh from World Records in the 1500 meter run and 1 Mile run, squares off against 1984 Olympic Champion and All-Time Great Joachim Cruz of Brazil. As of 2009, Cruz is still one of only three men to have covered the two-lapper under 1:42. Also in the race, Johnny Gray of the US, still the American Record Holder, and David Mack of the US, now in prison for a string of bank robberies (which he conducted while an officer in the Los Angeles Police Dept!).

Comments

1. amazing race for cram - cruz was so good - but for such a brief time compared to the 3 brits - cram so successful but missing that olympic gold that cruz and ovett had - and the 2 that coe had
2. Cram is a hard bastard and could beat anyone for strength!
3. Wth all the attention being on Seb Coe and Steve ovett's rivalry,breaking all kinds of records..I think sumtimes Steve cram's ability and achievements were under appreciated...Fantastic runner..Smooth and graceful..
4. Despite the comment of one poster below, blood doping hasn't always been illegal. It was legal until 1985
5. Not Joachim Cruz
   
   Yes Joaquim Cruz
6. Shame bout Sunderland This Git beat me every cross county every which 
7. Even Deano said Cruz was a different beast in 1984, Cruz would have beaten anybody that day in 84.
8. But Bekele set the WRs for the 5,000 and 10,000 several years after EPO testing was introduced. And he took healthy chunks off of both (2 sec and 5 sec, respectively).
9. The swap over to minimalist is currently happening! Check out the biggest athletics selling book for the past 20 years, BORN TO RUN (McDougall). Why do you think Vibram Five fingers have exploded on the scene? Why do you think all the big manufacturers are jumping on the minimalist band wagon? More than anything, read RUNNING FAST AND INJURY FREE (Gorden Pirie) page 16, it's free online. Cram's demise was through constant injury, Ovett's (World ranked 74-86) was nothing to do with injury.
10. If that is true - about footwear and technology - why haven't modern day athletes gone back to minimalistic training and equipment? Cram had about the same spell at or near the top (82-88) as Ovett (77-83) Coe lasted longest (77-89)
11. As kids, Ovett & Coe grew up running in shoes that were minimalistic. The kids of the generation after them didn't. Look at Cram: he was shot by his mid-20s. Before the mid-80s the UK had several men who had run sub 28mins for 10,000m, & regularly. Nowadays we have two. One only just under (27.59, & only once), and the other who was brought up with minimalistic footwear. The reasons the Africans forged ahead was because (a) they were driven by money (b) they weren't hampered by technology.
12. That's too simplistic and just guesswork. Coe and Ovett also grew up in the the western way and ran times which would still win gold medals today so it doesn't follow. Times being run now have come back down to earth since reliable testing for banned substances have evolved. I agree with Deano's position - there is a correlation between those super fast times of African runners in the 90s and lack of testing for and availability of EPO. It's no coinicidence.
13. Foster is 100% convinced Viren was clean, and all evidence points to this being correct. None of Viren's victories were a flash in the pan, he ran constantly well for many years - some were better than others only because of injury. This leads me on to why Westerners haven't progressed the way the Africans have. I believe it is because advancements in technology have caused Westerners to obtain too many injuries. African's grow up barefoot and sitting in a squat, not a chair, for instance.
14. It was not the article writer - rather in the readers' comments - see: (I will send you the link)
15. Pat Butcher's book is a very good read, as is Coe's recent autobiography. I never saw the Guardian article. When was it? I find it hard to believe anyone writing in the Guardian would accuse Coe or any of the Brits from that period of doping! No evidence whatsoever. Athletes today are just not driven as much or train as hard.
16. There was an article in the Guardian recently - about why we were faster in the 70s/80s than we are now. It was disappointing to see people recklessly accusing Coe and others of doping. Some claimed that Viren blood doped in 1976 - but he has categorically denied it. BTW - I just bought Pat Barker's book on ebay.
17. That is what Coe should have done To Cruz in 84 LA.
18. love these old races.Nice that all that effort in training they put in can be recalled and enjoyed by us all through the years to come.
19. Deano I am no expert & certainly do not know as much as you. My point is that Coe has a history of ill health related to a number of things one being when he had Toxoplasmosis a condition related to your immune system. At the time when he was ill it was reported that a number of journalists has suspicions about this and the cause of his illness. Because they were unfounded nothing really ever came out. I have no doubt if you google this you will see for yourself lots of people were suspicious
20. He was running 1:48. You don't do that "on death's door". A cold or chest infection will have little effect on most's life but on an elite athlete that 1% off colour will make difference between a 1:42 &1:48. He did the sensible thing to scratch, under English team's doctor's advice, before more damage was done, take a few days off to recover & then another 4 weeks to get ready for Europeans. Ovett had same affect in LA with a bronchial condition. He struggled on & look what happened to him?