1978 European Athletics Championships – Men's 800 metres

Events at the
1978 European
Athletics Championships

Track events
100 m   men   women
200 m men women
400 m men women
800 m men women
1500 m men women
3000 m women
5000 m men
10,000 m men
100 m hurdles women
110 m hurdles men
400 m hurdles men women
3000 m
steeplechase
men
4×100 m relay men women
4×400 m relay men women
Road events
Marathon men
20 km walk men
50 km walk men
Field events
High jump men women
Pole vault men
Long jump men women
Triple jump men
Shot put men women
Discus throw men women
Hammer throw men
Javelin throw men women
Combined events
Pentathlon women
Decathlon men

These are the official results of the Men's 800 metres event at the 1978 European Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.[1][2] The final was held on 31 August 1978.[3]

The two favourites for the race were Steve Ovett[4] and Sebastian Coe[5] Ovett had won silver at 800 m at the previous European Championships in 1974 in Rome,[6] and had won the 1500m, in spectacular fashion, at the IAAF World Cup[7] the previous year (he was to remain unbeaten at that distance until the 1980 Olympics).[8] Coe was the new British record holder at 800 m and the fastest man that year leading into the race at 800 m.[9]

The race was billed in the press, the British press in particular, as a 'Coe versus Ovett' contest - a race that was the start of a rivalry that was to dominate not only British and European but World middle-distance running over the next few years.[10][11] However, by concentrating on Coe and Ovett the press were ignoring the other talents in the race, including East Germany's Olaf Beyer.[12]

In the race itself, Coe led from the front setting a blistering first lap pace, going through the bell in a suicidal 49.32 s. At 700 m, he was spent and Ovett kicked past him for home. However, the fast-finishing Beyer first caught Coe and then Ovett to strike gold, in doing so recording the fastest time that year.[13]

Medalists

Gold Olaf Beyer
 East Germany
Silver Steve Ovett
 United Kingdom
Bronze Sebastian Coe
 United Kingdom

Results

Final

31 August

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1st Olaf Beyer  East Germany 1:43.84 CR
2nd Steve Ovett  United Kingdom 1:44.09
3rd Sebastian Coe  United Kingdom 1:44.76
4 Anatoliy Reshetnyak  Soviet Union 1:45.79
5 Vladimir Podolyako  Soviet Union 1:46.24
6 Andreas Busse  East Germany 1:47.1
7 Dragan Životić  Yugoslavia 1:47.4
8 José Marajo  France 1:53.4

Semi-finals

30 August

Semi-final 1

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1 Sebastian Coe  United Kingdom 1:47.44 Q
2 Andreas Busse  East Germany 1:47.6 Q
3 José Marajo  France 1:47.7 Q
4 Vladimir Podolyako  Soviet Union 1:47.8 Q
5 Markku Taskinen  Finland 1:47.9
6 Uwe Becker  West Germany 1:48.2
7 Detlef Wagenknecht  East Germany 1:48.5
8 Arno Körmeling  Netherlands 1:49.2

Semi-final 2

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1 Steve Ovett  United Kingdom 1:46.51 Q
2 Olaf Beyer  East Germany 1:46.74 Q
3 Dragan Životić  Yugoslavia 1:46.94 Q
4 Anatoliy Reshetnyak  Soviet Union 1:47.2 Q
5 Hans-Peter Ferner  West Germany 1:47.4
6 Sermet Timurlenk  Turkey 1:47.9
7 Roger Milhau  France 1:48.9
8 Günther Hasler  Liechtenstein 1:49.3

Heats

29 August

Heat 1

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1 Steve Ovett  United Kingdom 1:47.80 Q
2 Hans-Peter Ferner  West Germany 1:48.1 Q
3 Markku Taskinen  Finland 1:48.3 Q
4 Detlef Wagenknecht  East Germany 1:48.4 q
5 Vladimir Malozemlin  Soviet Union 1:48.6
6 Carlo Grippo  Italy 1:48.6

Heat 2

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1 Olaf Beyer  East Germany 1:47.72 Q
2 Arno Körmeling  Netherlands 1:48.1 Q
3 Günther Hasler  Liechtenstein 1:48.5 Q
4 Justin Gloden  Luxembourg 1:49.0
5 Peter Hoffmann  United Kingdom 1:49.3

Heat 3

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1 Andreas Busse  East Germany 1:49.08 Q
2 José Marajo  France 1:49.4 Q
3 Anatoliy Reshetnyak  Soviet Union 1:49.5 Q
4 Milovan Savić  Yugoslavia 1:50.0
5 Milan Timko  Czechoslovakia 1:50.5
6 Panagiotis Pallikaris  Greece 1:51.6

Heat 4

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1 Sebastian Coe  United Kingdom 1:46.82 Q
2 Roger Milhau  France 1:47.07 Q
3 Uwe Becker  West Germany 1:47.13 Q
4 Dragan Životić  Yugoslavia 1:47.18 q
5 Vladimir Podolyako  Soviet Union 1:47.19 q
6 Sermet Timurlenk  Turkey 1:47.23 q
7 Jon Didriksson  Iceland 1:50.4

Participation

According to an unofficial count, 24 athletes from 15 countries participated in the event.

See also

References

  1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjzR8AOvEzc 1978 European 800m - men, youtube.com. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  2. European Athletics Championships Zürich 2014 - STATISTICS HANDBOOK (PDF), European Athletics Association, pp. 427–435, retrieved 13 August 2014
  3. http://home.swipnet.se/athletics/resultat1978.htm European Championship 1978. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  4. http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ov/steve-ovett-1.html Steve Ovett biography, Sports-Reference.co. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  5. http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/co/sebastian-coe-1.html Sebastian Coe biography, Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU9Gqhoqno4&feature=related 'ROMA 1974: 800 MASCHILI - LUCIANO SUSANJ', youtube.com.
  7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W7GogWlv7Q 1977 World Cup 1500m - Steve Ovett, youtube.com.
  8. http://www.uka.org.uk/e-inspire/hall-of-fame-athletes/steve-ovett/ Steve Ovett, United Kingdom Athletics biography.
  9. http://www.uka.org.uk/e-inspire/hall-of-fame-athletes/sebastian-coe/ Sebastian Coe, United Kingdom Athletics biography.
  10. http://www.sportsjournalists.co.uk/sja-news/sja-1948-2008/we-will-never-see-their-like-again/ "We will never see their like again.", Randall Northam, 9 June 2008, Sports Journalists' Association. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  11. http://www.sportinglife.com/olympics/history/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=others/00/07/05/OLYMPICS_Coe_and_Ovett.insdat "Olympic greats - Coe and Ovett", Richard Gibson, sportinglife.com. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  12. http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/be/olaf-beyer-1.html Olaf Beyer biography, Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  13. http://digilander.libero.it/Mennea/Stagionali/WRL/1978/800.htm 1978 800m performances. Retrieved 16 May 2012.

Other Links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, September 14, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.