Sebastian Coe - 800 Metres - Philips Games - 9th July, 1978

Short clip showing Seb Coe running in the 800 metres, which I've identified as being at the Philips Games on the 9th July, 1978 at Gateshead. The clip is not great quality but it does show Seb did not have great form here - this was before his British Record run in Brussels and the Prague European Championships.

[@neathletics2439]

I've seen this before. Because I was there!!! I was only 12 and my Grandad had bought me a program and asked, "Who is the little fella with the really long stride? I like him!" My son raced at Gateshead Stadium many times in recent years and heard that story more than once 🤣🤣🤣

[@PrentisHancock1]

"Who is the little fella with the really long stride!" That made me laugh! Thanks for the great comment! We must be same age, if you were 12 in '78!

[@dashriprock3165]

Don Paige and Tom McClean of the U.S. right behind him.

[@PrentisHancock1]

Well spotted on Don Paige! A couple of years later, Don beat Coe, so if this was their only other encounter, then they were 1 win each!

[@deano27671]

Thanks for posting this! Have never seen it before. I think his form is good round the bend, but yes, not the finished article of the following year. I do think his form in this video goes a bit at the end due to lack of strength; he missed a month or so through injury earlier that summer.
Another interesting take home from this race is that he beats Don Paige (who narrowly beat Coe 2 years later after the Moscow Olympics) here, who finishes 3rd!

[@PrentisHancock1]

Hi Deano, thank you for your comments. Do you know when exactly he got injured? Which week or month?

[@deano27671]

@@PrentisHancock1 There are a couple of references to his ankle injury (tearing of some ligaments) in the book, 'The Coe and Ovett File'. Coe said that he stepped in a pot hole and was out for 10 days (no running at all), then had light training for a few weeks. He said in an interview with AW, "I tore some ligaments, did a lot of damage to the ankle joint, and that really did put me back a long way." This was after his exams and the Yorkshire 800, so probably late May. "You can't push the ankle too much, and I lost a lot of mobilityand flexion from it, and that really cast a bit of a shadow over the rest of the season because I was having to race before Prague when I shpouldn't have been racing in order to get race fit again." Hope that helps.

[@PrentisHancock1]

Thanks Deano. Looking at his race record, the Yorkshire Championships 800m were on the 14th May. He then next ran in the Loughborough v AAA in an 800m on the 1st June, in 1:50.00. But then his next race was this one, the Philips Games, on 9th July - a gap of 38 days. Does it sound more plausible that his accident occured in this period rather than in the 2 weeks gap in late May? It would be good to get an accurate fix on when he had the accident. Have you got any other sources you can refer to?

[@TheSecondWitness]

Wow, cool to see a Coe race from before he hit it big. This is priceless. I was lucky enough to see Coe run at Crystal Palace in 1986, winning in 1:44.