Can They Top This? Stick Around

Coe and Ovett take turns setting records for the mile

The war of the mile intensified last week as Britain's Steve Ovett, 25, and Sebastian Coe, 24, once more took turns shooting down one another's world records. In Zurich on Aug. 19, Coe reclaimed his record (set in 1979 and broken by Ovett in 1980), taking 27/100 sec. off the mark with a time of 3 min. 48.53 sec. Exactly a week later, Ovett announced that he wanted to go after the new record at a meet in Koblenz, West Germany. No mile event had been scheduled--its metric near equivalent, the 1,500-meter run, was on the Koblenz menu--but meet organizers quickly obliged Ovett's request and lengthened the finish line by the required 120 yds. As good as his word, Ovett flashed across the tape in 3 min. 48.40 sec. His feat set another record: shortest time needed to break a new mile record.

But even that mark was destined to fall as the two old and unfriendly rivals continued their game of "Can you top this?" Just two days after Ovett exacted his revenge, Coe returned to the track, this time in Brussels. With his familiar Zurich "rabbit," American Tom Byers, setting the pace, Coe took more than a full second off Ovett's newborn mark, cutting through the balmy night in 3 min. 47.33 sec. As he had done in Zurich, Coe unleashed a terrific closing kick, taking the lead with some 500 meters (547 yds.) left. When it was over, Coe paid tribute to his obliging pacesetter. Said he: "I credit much of my success tonight to Byers."

Though he coyly insisted that Ovett's new mark had "nothing to do" with his effort, Coe had announced before the race that he hoped to finish in a record 3 min. 47.5 sec. And earlier in the day he had huddled with Byers to discuss strategy. As for Ovett, Coe said: "I'm very sorry he wasn't here tonight. The race certainly would have been faster with him in it."

He has a point, for the two countrymen have done a remarkable job of avoiding head-to-head confrontations while assaulting the record books by themselves. The origin of their mutual dislike is obscure, but its effect on the sport is not. New records for the mile were a rarity in the years after Roger Bannister broke the 4 min. barrier in 1954. American Jim Ryun's 1967 record of 3 min. 51.1 sec., for example, endured for eight years. This year Coe and Ovett have batted the record back and forth like a Ping-Pong ball. In a mere ten days, they have swapped the record three times.

Coe and Ovett are not scheduled to race against one another for the remainder of the year. Though both will appear at the World Cup in Rome this weekend, Coe will race in the 800-meters while Ovett is scheduled to compete in the 1,500-meters. Track's odd couple seem content to go on avoiding one another, but track fans are hoping for a true showdown in a dream mile.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.