Wednesday, September 8, 2010

(Updated)The Nominees for the Greatest Season of All Time men's 800m up

David Rudisha's amazing 2010 season has inspired me to compile a list of the greatest seasons for men 800m up the last 30 years (1980-present)
My criteria to make the list:
-At least 4 high quality races
-A world record/world title

Let's begin with the man depicted at the left, Steve Cram.

Steve Cram 1985:
800: 1:42.88 to defeat Olympic Champion Cruz, Johnny Gray and Sammy Kipketer
1000: 2:12.88 win in Oslo (#4 AT)
1500: 3:29.67 WR defeating Aouita in Nice, 3:31.34 first place Oslo
Mile: 3:46.32 WR Oslo (#11 AT)
2000: 4:51.39 WR Budapest

Sebastian Coe 1981:
800: 1:41.73 WR (T#6 AT/first man under 1:42)
1000: 2:12.18 WR in Oslo (#2 AT)
1500: 3:31.95 WR win in Stockholm
Mile: 3:47.33 WR Brussels (#21 AT), 3:48.53 then WR in Zurich,

Daniel Komen 1997:
1500: 3:29.46 win in Monaco, 3:31.29 win in Bratislava,
Mile: 3:46.38 runner up in Berlin (#12 AT), 3:47.85 win in Rieti,
3000: 7:30.49 win in Oslo
2 Mile: 7:58.61 Current WR in Hechtel
5000: 12:39.74 WR in Brussels (#3 AT), 12:44.9 Runner-Up in Zurich, 12:48.98 win in Rome, World Championships Gold Medalist by 2 seconds

Kenenisa Bekele 2004:
5000: 12:37.35 Current WR in Hengelo, Silver Medal Athens Olympic Games Indoors: 12:49.60 Current WR
10000: 26:20.31 WR(#2 AT) in Ostrava, Gold Medal Athens Olympic Games

Moses Kiptanui 1995:
3000: 7:27.18 win at Monaco (#15 AT), 7:28.04 win at Koln,
3000m Steeplechase: 7:59.18 WR in Zurich (#23 AT), 7:59.52 win in Brussels, 8:02.45 win in Monaco, 8:03.36 win in Oslo, 8:04.16 CR Gold Medalist 1995 World Championships in Athletics Gothenburg
5000: 12:55.30 WR in Rome

Wilson Kipketer 1997:
800: 1:41.11 WR in Koln (#3 AT), 1:41.24 then WR in Zurich (#4 AT), 1:41.73 equalling then WR in Stockholm(T #6 AT), 1:42.2 win in Brussels (#13 AT), 1:42.61 win in Lausanne, 1:42.77 win in Monaco, 1:42.98 win in Monaco, Gold Medal 1997 World Championships in Athletics Athens
Indoors: 1:42.67i WR

Hicham El Guerrouj 1999:
1500: Gold Medal CR 3:27.65 World Championships in Seville by 1 second over Ngeny, 3:28.57 win in Zurich
Mile: 3:43.13 Current WR in Rome, 3:47.10 win in London
2000: 4:44.79 Current WR in Berlin
3000: 7:23.09 win in Brussels (#2 AT)

Nourredine Morceli 1995:
1000: 2:15.55 win in Villanueve
1500: 3:27.37 WR in Nice (#9 AT), 3:27.52 win in Monaco (#11 AT), 3:28.37 then WR in Monaco, Gold Medal 1995 World Championships defeating El Guerrouj by 1.5 seconds
Mile: 3:45.19 win in Zurich (#7 AT), 3:48.26 win in Berlin
2000: 4:47.88 WR in Paris (#3 AT)
3000: 7:27.5 win in Brussels (#18 AT), 7:29.36 win in Rieti

David Rudisha 2010:
800: 1:41.01 Current WR in Rieti, 1:41.09 then WR in Berlin(#2 AT), 1:41.51 win in Heusden (#5 AT), 1:42.04 win in Oslo over Kaki(#11 AT), 1:42.84 (51.6/51.2 frontrun) at altitude to win African Champs by 2 seconds, 1:43.00 win at Ad-Dawdah, 1:43.15 win at Melbourne, 1:43.25 win at Lausanne over Mulaudzi, 1:43.27 win at Continental Cup in Split, 1:43.50 win at Brussels

Haile Gebresalassie 1998:
1500: Indoors 3:31.76 win in Stuttgart(#2 AT)
2000: Indoors: 4:52.86 WR in Birmingham (#2 AT)
3000: 7:25.09 win in Brussels (#4 AT), 7:25.5 win in Monaco(#7 AT), 7:27.42 win in Oslo Indoors: 7:26.15 WR (#2 AT), 7:31.70 win in Stockholm
5000: 12:39.36 WR in Helsinki (#2 AT),
10000: 26:22.75 WR in Hengelo (#3 AT)

Noah Ngeny 1999:
1000: 2:11.96 Current WR in Rieti, 2:12.66 win in Nice (#3 AT)
1500: Silver Medal 1999 World Championships in Seville 3:28.73, 3:28.84 win in Paris, 3:28.93 win in Munich, 3:29.19 win in Brussels, 3:29.79 win in Monaco,
Mile: 3:43.40 runner up in Oslo (#2 AT)
2000: 4:50.08 win in Stockholm (#9 AT)

Saif Saaeed Shaheen 2005:
3000m Steeplechase: 7:55.51 win in Brussels (#3 AT), 7:56.34 win in Rome(#7 AT), 7:57.28 win in Athens(#11 AT), 8:02.69 win in Zurich, Gold Medal World Championships in Athletics Helsinki over Ezekiel Kemboi

Said Aouita
1500: 3:30.67 win in Oslo over Bile,
Mile: 3:46.76 win in Helsinki (#14 AT), 3:49.12 win in Nice
2 Mile: 8:13.45 WR in Torino
5000: 12:58.39 WR in Rome, Gold Medal 1987 World Championships in Athletics

Any athlete/season I miss? I will rank them later today or tomorrow, but I have to develop an objective scoring system first!

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