Page "Steve Ovett" Paragraph 12

During 1981, both Ovett and Coe were at their peak.

They didn't meet in a race that year but exchanged world records in the mile three times during a 10-day period.

Ovett suffered a famous upset in a 1500m race in Oslo that year.

With Ovett and Coe so dominant and Coe not involved in the race, Ovett was hot favourite.

During the race Tom Byers, who had been asked to act as a pacemaker set off quickly and the pack, mishearing the split times being announced and believing that they were going faster than they were, declined to follow his pace.

As a result, by the start of the last lap Byers was leading by almost ten seconds and decided to finish the race.

Ovett ran the last lap almost nine seconds quicker than Byers but finished second by 0. 53s, later commenting " We ran like a load of hacks.