| Men's 800 metres at the European Athletics Championships |
|---|
| 1978 European Athletics Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Track events | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| 800 m | men | women |
| 1500 m | men | women |
| 3000 m | women | |
| 5000 m | men | |
| 10,000 m | men | |
| 100 m hurdles | women | |
| 110 m hurdles | men | |
| 400 m hurdles | men | women |
| 3000 m steeplechase | men | |
| 4 × 100 m relay | men | women |
| 4 × 400 m relay | men | women |
| Road events | ||
| Marathon | men | |
| 20 km walk | men | |
| 50 km walk | men | |
| Field events | ||
| Long jump | men | women |
| Triple jump | men | |
| High jump | men | women |
| Pole vault | men | |
| Shot put | men | women |
| Discus throw | men | women |
| Hammer throw | men | |
| Javelin throw | men | women |
| Combined events | ||
| Pentathlon | women | |
| Decathlon | men | |
These are the official results of the Men's 800 metres event at the 1978 European Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. [1] [2] The final was held on 31 August 1978. [3]
Contents
The two favourites for the race were Steve Ovett [4] and Sebastian Coe [5] Ovett had won silver at 800 m at the previous European Championships in 1974 in Rome, [6] and had won the 1500m, in spectacular fashion, at the IAAF World Cup [7] the previous year (he was to remain unbeaten at that distance until the 1980 Olympics). [8] Coe was the new British record holder at 800 m and the fastest man that year leading into the race at 800 m. [9]
The race was billed in the press, the British press in particular, as a 'Coe versus Ovett' contest - a race that was the start of a rivalry that was to dominate not only British and European but World middle-distance running over the next few years. [10] [11] However, by concentrating on Coe and Ovett the press were ignoring the other talents in the race, including East Germany's Olaf Beyer. [12]
In the race itself, Coe led from the front setting a blistering first lap pace, going through the bell in a suicidal 49.32 s. At 700 m, he was spent and Ovett kicked past him for home. However, the fast-finishing Beyer first caught Coe and then Ovett to strike gold, in doing so recording the fastest time that year. [13]
