History of the Distance Events
Event Depth Chart
3200 M. Run
Roger Bannister achieved immortality by being the first to break four minutes
for the mile at Oxford in 1954, fellow Briton Steve Cram was the first under
3:30 for 1500m, in Nice in 1985.
Previously Seb Coe and Steve Ovett had ruled the 1500m/mile scene.Today
it is the North Africans who dominate this event. First Algeria's Noureddine
Morceli and then his successor Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, with their
punishing training schedules and fearless attitude, represent the ultimate
thoroughbred 1500m racer.
Back in the 1920s Paavo Nurmi revolutionised these events by training twice
a day over long distances, skiing in the winter, and carrying out gruelling
sprint repetitions.In the 1940s, as a result of Gunder Hägg (see 1500m),
the "natural training method" including "fartlek" (speed-play) became popular
while in the 1950s, thanks to the phenomenal successes of Czechoslovakia's
Emil Zátopek, interval training came into vogue again.
Zátopek’s training was incredibly intense. He often ran 60 x 400m with short
recovery times. Each day he covered 40km, 25 of them on the track. His long
runs were usually made in army boots.
In the 1960s Ron Clarke (Australia), a disciple of even pace, put natural
preparation first and overturned all the received wisdom.
Today Africa boasts the greatest distance runners. Haile Gebrselassie of
Ethiopia, who has continuously astounded the world with his world records
at 5,000m and 10,000m, was born at altitude, like his predecessors Kip Keino,
Miruts Yifter, Henry Rono and John Ngugi. Gebrselassie has succeeded in
blending two previously incompatible attributes - speed and endurance.