Winds Of Change

IN THE SECOND PART OF A FEATURE LOOKING AT THE LAST 70 YEARS OF THE SPORT, STAN GREENBERG CHRONICLES THE CHANGES

- Greenberg Chronicles

ORIGINALLY the 800m was not run in lanes, but after several problem races in the late 1950s it was suggested (initially by Sir Arthur Gold) that part of the first lap should be. It was finally decided that the first 100m should be thus controlled, but in the 1976 Olympics it was extended to 300m as an experiment – which was not continued.

With regard to the question of altitude, it seems that the upper limit of events that gain advantage is the 800m. Beyond that it appears that only athletes who have been brought up in mountainous countries suffer less from the effect. In recent years, this has led to ever more athletes from sea-level habitats going to altitude to train.

One important change to the regulations that has greatly helped times in the longer events is the rule about pace-making. When Sydney Wooderson broke the world record for 880 yards, and 800m, in 1938, he did it in an unusual framed handicap – with other runners starting at different places – causing him to run an unfamiliar fast first lap.

When Roger Bannister ran a British record-breaking mile in 4:02.0 in 1953, it was disallowed because it was decreed to be a handicap race. His 3:59.4 a year later was to all intents and purposes very similar, except in this latter case both pace-makers, Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher, finished the race.

Today, because of a change in the rules, and especially in Diamond League meetings, pace-makers are the norm and are “ordered” not to finish the race. This continual pacing seems to interfere with some runners learning how to run their event in championship competitions.

Women’s 1500m/mile competition didn’t really get going internationally until the late 1960s and got a tremendous boost in the 1972 Munich Olympics when the Soviet Union’s Ludmila Bragina broke the world record three times, taking it down to a then remarkable 4:01.4 mark.

DISTANCE