Ovett takes record

Press, 29 August 1980, Page 24

Ovett takes record

NZPA-Reuter Koblenz West Germany The amazing Steve Ovett, of Britain, gained a measure of compensation for his defeat in the Olympic 1500 metres in Moscow when he broke the world record for the distance at Koblenz yesterday. ? Ovett’s winning time of three minutes 31.4 seconds was seven tenths of a s second inside the previous world mark of 3:32.1 he shared with his compatriot and arch-rival, Sebastian Coe.

But the 24-year-old Briton was given the race of his life by the West Germans, Thomas Wessinghage and Harold Hudak, who came second and third respectively.

Wessinghage finished just one fifth of a second behind Ovett and both West Germans returned times inside the old record.

Ovett, the Olympic 800 metres champion and one mile world record holder, suffered a rare setback when he had to - settle for the bronze medal in the Moscow 1500 metres behind Coe and the East German, Jurgen Straub.

Undaunted by that defeat, Ovett has embarked on a hectic campaign recently while many other Olympic athletes have been winding down.

Last Friday he won the Ivo Van Damme mile in Brussels and just three days later he won the International Amateur Athletics

Federation (1.A.A.F.) “Golden Mile” at London’s Crystal Palace.

Ovett was quick to praise Wessinghage after the race when he said: “He was the ideal pacemaker and drove me to the new record.” •'<

Wessinghage took the lead after Britain’s Gerry Cook had led the field through 800 metres in a searing 1:53.00. But with 50 metres to go, Ovett switched into overdrive, caught and passed the West German, and broke the tape a narrow winner. Ovett said he 7 owed his success to the absence of psychological pressure. “I was completely relaxed,” he said. “There was none of the pressure of the Olympics or the Golden Mile.”