Greatest Race Ever-1972 Mens 800 Meter Olympic Final
I’m not exactly sure why I’m posting the below video today. It's one of my favorite sports videos of all time. I remember watching this race live on TV back in the 1972 when I was 13 years old and I’ve lost count of the number of times since then I’ve watched the re-play. The version I have at home is actually on a video cassette and has an interview of Dave Wottle spliced throughout the clip. I am going to try to upload that version at some point. The clip below is from the live ABC telecast.
The race is the 1972 Men’s 800 Meter Final at the Munich Olympics. The favorite in the race was Yevgeniy Arzhanov of the Soviet Union who had not lost an 800 meter final in four years. Also in the race were Kenyans’ Mike Boit and Robert Ouko. At the time of the race Wottle (wearing the golf cap) was a student at Bowling Green State University, not even ranked in the top 20 in the world the previous year and had battled tendonitis in both knees in the weeks leading up to the Olympics. Over the last eight seasons I've tried to play this video to my Granite State Flash runners the night before our final race of the season to remind them to respect their competition but never be intimidated and regardless of their overall position in the race to never let up until they've come across the finish line.
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