Berlin Dream Team (Bailey, Johnson, Fredericks, Christie) - Jesse Owens 4 x 100m - 1996 ISTAF Meet

ISTAF Meet
Berlin, Germany
August 30, 1996
Jesse Owens 4 x 100m Relay:
1) Berlin Dream Team - 38.87
[Donovan Bailey, Michael Johnson,
Frank Fredericks, Linford Christie]
2) Mixed Team - 38.87
[Michael Green, Osmond Ezinwa,
Deji Aliu, Davidson Ezinwa]
3) European Team 2 - 39.93
[Peter Karlsson, Falk Balzer,
Florian Schwarthoff, George Panagiotopoulos]
4) European Team 1 - 40.0 (estimate)
[Darren Campbell, Patrick Stevens,
Geir Moen, Marc Blume]
5) SC Hohenschönhausen - 43.5 (estimate)
6) Bavarian Sport Club

[@wailee3939]

It should have been:
1 - Frankie (best starter)
2 - Christie
3 - MJ (200m bend runner)
4 - Bailey

[@ShinobiAFC]

Agreed...it was a weird selection. Bailey was always a weak starter, and Johnson through the turn is the best we've ever seen.

[@Benjamin-fu5ij]

YES exactly

[@nakaafrikaner1132]

Agreed

[@shak3166]

I Agree Bailey towards the end

[@hodell82]

Exactly, you nailed it. They had arguably the worst starter (Bailey) and the guy with the best top end speed (Bailey) in leadoff instead of anchoring, and the best bend runner (Johnson) running the straightaway. Head scratcher.

[@volkerracho9481]

Thank you very much for uploading. It brought back old memories for me. I was in the stadium back then and saw the race live.

[@anunchuckfan]

Why Donovan not running the anchor. He’s not a great starter. He should have run 2 or 4. MJ was not famous for his top end speed and apparently he was losing in the 2. The ideal sequence should have been: Frankie-Linford-MJ-Donovan

[@a2siony-kidox797]

U r so right....
Wrongly assembled...

[@rc2869]

Yeah you could make argument for Christie or Bailey to be 2 or 4. MJ shouldn't have been 2.

[@ebojfmdboojoh4023]

Well I agree but he was the indoor 50m world record holder so he clearly did have a good start

[@isaz597]

Linford was the best starter so it should have been linford Christie - Fredericks - Johnson - Bailey.

[@smileyzz2523]

​@@ebojfmdboojoh4023He jumped the gun in that race and it wasnt called back. Its a false record

[@kemybolt]

This is the proof that having 4 fastest men at the time is not a key for win

[@keylimetrpt]

but they did win no?

[@kemybolt]

@@keylimetrpt barely

[@algibson6245]

@@keylimetrpt yep lol

[@cookiemonsteryummyyumz]

of course, but it just gives them a lot of potential

[@pmodel1]

Their speed didn't compliment them. Just 4 fast guys with no real chemistry. They def put this together for fun and it was fun to watch. Wish they did more of this today in track & field

[@craig7896]

Change overs were horrendous

[@LPCLASSICAL]

Christie did really well to clinch that with his dip.

[@bobfred1282]

Johnson ran a very poor leg, can see the 100m wasn’t his thing. Ato Boldon should’ve been on the team instead, 100m bronze medalist that year after Bailey and Fredricks.

[@OfentseMwaseFilms]

They placed them wrong, but was prolly on purpose so they don’t win too hard!😂

[@steveng05]

Johnson should have been on 1st leg, then Bailey 2

[@stratkiller2531]

The REAL dream team would have been, 1) linford Christie 2) Donovan Bailey 3) Michael Johnson 4) BEN JOHNSON anchoring.

[@keylimetrpt]

Seems like an odd order choice for the "Dream Team", christie doesn't seem either in top form or serious, all terrible handoffs. Although It seems the USA 4x100 record team and Jamaican world record teams all could hold up individually or beat this "dream" team. Wild how much things have improved not to take away from any of the great athletes here.
Wild to see MJ in a 100m event! Any splits?!

[@markhiggins8315]

Linford was 36 years old here( a good 4 or 5 years after being the oldest 100m olympic champion) and obviously past his prime, actually to hold off a world class sprinter after such a slow start was pretty impressive for a man at this time of life.

[@ebojfmdboojoh4023]

Order was wrong. Linford Christie was a much quicker starter than Donovan Bailey out of the blocks. Should have been Linford Christie, Frankie Fredericks, Michael Johnson and Donovan Bailey.

[@MrFlex5]

The order was totally wrong..
Johnson 1st
Bailey 2nd
Johnson 3rd
Fredericks anchor
That would have been their ideal order. The passes were terrible anyways. So it doesn't matter

[@ThunderJuice]

Michael Johnson was great, but not even he could run 1st and 3rd leg in the same relay.

[@paulrispin4989]

Hmmm. Would have been tough for Johnson to get to the end of the back straight to get the baton back again from Bailey having just passed it to him??

[@lordmaximus780]

@@paulrispin4989 LOL its a funny thought though. Plus MJ was a better 200m and 400m sprinter, so would have had plenty of energy to compete the task!

[@bf3595]

Johnson running twice...

[@shams6598]

They should do these relays why did their stop

[@thescatman5029]

I would have switched MJ and Frankie Fredericks. But those passes were not good, regardless.

[@scottberensen6470]

Michael Johnson is a great 200m & 400m runner. Not a great 100m runner. Why was he on this team? Should have been Carl Lewis.

[@cookiemonsteryummyyumz]

This was in 1996, meaning lewis was already 35 years old and wasn't in good 100m shape. Also, besides the first leg, the other 3 legs in the 4x100m relay isn't dependent on your starts but more on your top speed and speed endurance, which MJ definitely has given his prowess in the 200 and 400m.

[@brownmamba6538]

@@cookiemonsteryummyyumz Linford Christie was 36 in this race

[@chicnoir29]

@@brownmamba6538 - Right Linford was even older.

[@madpuppy54]

The dream is a nightmare

[@Spankathon03293]

Should have been Frankie on 2 and MJ on 3

[@sipnog3528]

The US didn't win this race. It was a draw with Namibia, period.

[@garfieldwillis4254]

It was not a US team

[@tyboogie1982]

Linford Christie got some cakes! 🍑👀

[@chicnoir29]

🤣

[@raya472]

Terrible dream team. It should have been ato Boldon, Christie, Frederick and Bailey to anchor.