Great Rivalries in Olympic Track and Field Series
Every four years the greatest track and field athletes in the world converge on the highest, most pressure-packed stage in sport in the Olympic Games. Given the relative infrequency of these quadrennial competitions, even the greatest of these athletes typically have available to them one or maybe two of these Olympic cycles during which they are at their most competitive level, further increasing the urgency of these medal opportunities. When two or more athletes bring an intense rivalry to these meetings, the resulting performances can reach even higher levels.
In Olympic track and field, rivalries have come in countless forms. Some have resulted from two stellar athletes pushing each other in pursuit of a long-held record, such as Mike Powell and Carl Lewis in the long jump in Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992. Others have pitted a favored legend with an upstart athlete from a rising track power, such as Jim Ryun and Kip Keino in Mexico City in 1968. Sometimes two close friends and teammates push each other to higher levels of performance, such as Rafer Johnson and C.K. Yang in Rome in 1960. Similarly, at times two athletes with great mutual respect meet under historical circumstances, such as Joan Benoit and Grete Waitz in the inaugural women’s marathon in Los Angeles in 1984. Conversely, in that same year high expectations and media scrutiny caused two runners, Mary Decker and Zola Budd, to became entangled in an historic race with a tragic ending. Or when two countrymen, Sebastien Coe and Steve Ovett, pushed each other in titanic Olympic battles in Moscow in 1980. And countless other rivalries, both famous and otherwise, that led to fierce Olympic clashes.
To highlight some of these rivalries, on the “Track and Field Enthusiast” blog at RobLeachman.com, I will be offering a series of long-form articles detailing selected pairs of athletes and describing how they came to uniquely clash with each other on the Olympic stage. Largely utilizing sources from the time of the competitions, primarily newspapers and periodicals and contemporary reflections of the individuals themselves, I will tell the stories of how these extraordinary athletes came to face each other in these historical athletic battles. I begin with contentious rivalry between Mac Wilkins and John Powell, two record-breaking discus throwers who dominated the event in the mid-1970’s and whose dislike for one another contributed to a sensational Olympic season in 1976. Though the research process may be hampered or altered by quarantine conditions, I plan to roll out these stories over the next couple of years. I hope you enjoy them.
