Johan Fourie (born December 2, 1959) is a South African middle-distance athlete who was one of the world's leading 1500m/mile exponents in the 1980s but was prevented from competing internationally in his prime due to the sporting sanctions imposed on South Africa in condemnation of the policy of apartheid.
Fourie's best 1500m performance was 3:33.87, a time recorded at the SA Championships in Stellenbosch in 1987 without significant opposition or pacemakers and his best mile time was 3:50.82 also recorded in 1987. During the mid-1980s he trained with Swiss Pierre Délèze in Europe. Délèze, who defeated Sebastian Coe over 1500m in Zurich in 1985, believed that Fourie was capable of running a sub 3:30 1500m, given the appropriate race conditions [1]
He was born in Springs and raised in Vereeniging in Gauteng Province, where he attended school and won his first national 1500m in 1977 while still a junior.
Prevented from competing on international stage, he nevertheless managed to entertain athletics followers in the 1980s which has been characterised as a golden age of South African middle and long distance running. Apart from running more than 50 sub-four miles, he also ran two sub-four miles in one hour and in 1984 was awarded the Beinart award by the South African Athletics Statisticians for being the top ranked South African athlete in the world in 1983. [2]
Johan married 400m distance Springbok athlete Marinda Fourie in 1989. They have two children, Rico Fourie and Shan Fourie. Johan and his family currently live in Stellenbosch, South Africa. He and his wife coach "The Dogsquad" athletics group.
Eamonn Christopher Coghlan is an Irish former track and field athlete who specialised in middle distance track events and the 5,000 metres. He is a three-time Olympian, held the world indoor mile record and was world champion in the 5,000 m. Coghlan served as a senator from 2011 to 2016.
Stephen Cram, is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arrow", after his home town, Cram set world records in the 1,500 m, 2,000 m, and the mile during a 19-day period in the summer of 1985. He was the first man to run 1,500 m under 3 minutes and 30 seconds. He won the 1,500 m gold medal at the 1983 World Championships and the 1,500 m silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.
Stephen Michael James Ovett, is a retired British track athlete. A middle-distance runner, he was the gold medalist in the 800 metres at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Ovett set five world records for 1500 metres and the mile run, and a world best at two miles. He won 45 consecutive 1500 and mile races from 1977 to 1980.
Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder for the 1500 metres and mile, and the former world record holder in the 2000 metres. He is the only man since Paavo Nurmi to win a gold medal in both the 1500 m and 5000 metres at the same Olympic Games.
Marcus O'Sullivan is an Irish retired middle-distance runner. He competed for Ireland at four Summer Olympics. After Steve Scott and John Walker, he is the third all-time by total of sub-4 minute miles run over the course of his career, at 101.
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Sydney Maree OIS is a former middle distance runner who competed at the international level in the 1980s. He was the first South African to run officially under 3:30 in the 1500m. He was born in Cullinan, South Africa, but later became a U.S. citizen, running for the United States in various competitions.
Pierre Délèze is a former Swiss middle distance runner who set a national record of 3:31.75 min when he won the 1500 m race at the meeting in Zurich in 1985, defeating the reigning Olympic champion Sebastian Coe. He also set a national record over the Mile in 3:50.38 min in Koblenz in 1982.
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Frank J. Horwill was a UK Athletics senior level 4 coach most famous for founding the British Milers' Club (BMC) and for formulating the Five Pace Training Theory which is widely used for coaching middle-distance runners throughout the world.
Peter Gerard O'Donoghue is a former New Zealand and Australian athlete specialising in middle distance running.
Matthews Temane is a South African runner, who excelled over both middle distance running and long distance running, winning some 17 national athletics titles from 1982 to 1989, including seven 5000 metre title, four cross country titles, three half marathon titles, and three 10 km titles and who unofficially bettered the World half marathon record.
Patrick 'Pat' Gerard Scammell is a retired Australian runner who specialized in the 1500 metres. Scammell competed at both the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games, reaching the semi-finals of the 1500 metres in 1988. He also competed at the 1987 and 1991 World Championships, as well as the 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994 Commonwealth Games. After coming second on four previous occasions, Scammell was Australian 1500 metres champion in 1992, his first Australian title.
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