Flying Feet

Coe and Nehemiah set records

The less than friendly rivalry between Great Britain's marvelous distance runners Sebastian Coe, 24, and Steve Ovett, 25, has become the track world's version of playing chess by mail. Each year, the two set out on separate paths through the summer track circuit, studiously avoiding head-to-head encounters while carefully selecting races where they have the best chance of breaking each other's world records. In 1979 Coe burst from obscurity by snapping the record in the mile, with a 3-min. 49.0-sec. performance in Oslo (only twelve days after setting a world mark of 1 min. 42.3 sec. in the 800 meters). Just before the Olympics last year, Ovett went to Oslo and marked Coe's record "return to sender" with a time of 3 min. 48.8 sec. They finally met on the same track at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. In the 800-meter run, Ovett finished first and Coe second; Coe took the 1,500 meters, and Ovett came in third.

When the 1981 track season rolled around, it quickly became clear that this was Coe's year to write home. In June he broke his own world record in the 800 meters at a meet in Florence by 61/100 sec. Last week in Zurich, he broke Ovett's mile record, crossing the finish line in 3 min. 48.53 sec., 27/100 sec. off the old mark.

Coe had hoped to make his latest vic tory a chain letter by breaking Ovett's 1,500-meter record as well. But a slow early pace kept him nearly 2 sec. slower than Ovett at the 1,500-meter mark (120 yds. short of a mile). Coe shifted into over drive. With a capacity crowd of 23,000 at Zurich's Letzigrund Stadium stamping in rhythm with his every step, he was able to make up lost seconds in the final 100 yds. to finish the mile in record time. He had worked during the winter on his already powerful closing kick, and it had paid off. But Coe rued the record that got away at 1,500 meters. Said he: "If I didn't have a race in Brussels next week, I would go out and get drunk tonight. But I suppose I really only deserve half a bottle of champagne."

It may be too soon for even a split of bubbly, however. Ovett, back in form after a leg injury, was contemplating races in West Germany this week in hopes of regaining his record. With Coe and Ovett, the postman always seems to ring twice.

Coe shared the limelight in Zurich with American Renaldo Nehemiah, 22, who became the first man in history to run the 110-meter high hurdles in less than 13 sec. His 12.93 performance came after two frustrating years of injuries, a change of coaches and acrimony over his decision to drop out of the University of Maryland. Said Nehemiah: "This means the world to me after having a couple of disappointing years when I doubted my ability and honestly wondered if I was washed up. Now there's no question as to how good I can be."

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