1988 Johnson v Lewis. ibid.
200m v [Joe] DeLoach ... The only Olympic sprint title Carl Lewis would lose. ibid.
1991 World Championships in Tokyo: Lewis v [Leroy] Burrell: 9.86 world record. ibid.
Long Jump: Mike Powell produced something special – a world record of 8.95 metres. ibid.
In Barcelona in 1992 he won gold in the long jump for a third successive time. ibid.
1996 Olympics in Atlanta ... Carl Lewis won the long jump for an incredible fourth time. ibid.
One man combined these attributes better than any other athlete in the history of the intermediate hurdles. For almost a decade Edwin Moses reigned supreme; for almost a decade he never lost a race. Sporting Greats – Ed Moses
Tall, languid, elegant – Moses’ style was unmistakeable. ibid.
He became one of the stars of Montreal. That potential was realised in the Olympic final: 47.65 world record. ibid.
The vigorous training regime worked; Moses smashed the world record in the 1976 Olympics and twice more in ’77 and ’80. He broke it again for a final time in ’83: 47.01. ibid.
An athlete whose influence transcends his chosen sport. Sporting Greats – Michael Johnson
In 1995 Johnson proved his superiority at the World Championships in Gothenburg. 400m: 43.39; 200m 19.79; 4x400 relay. ibid.
1996 Atlanta: 200m 19.32 & 400m & 4x400 relay. ibid.
2000 Sydney: 400m 43.85; 4x400m – but when his team-mates failed drugs tests he chose to return what he saw was a tainted gold. ibid.
The greatest of them all. Sporting Greats – Haile Gebrselassie
On the track and in the marathon his successes have included more than twenty world records and brought him untold fame and fortune. ibid.
‘All I wanted to do was just be the best athlete in the world.’ Sporting Greats: Daley Thompson, Sky Sports 2017
‘I wasn’t interested in being famous.’ ibid.
‘To be the first athletics world champion – it’s wicked.’ ibid.
‘He can do anything.’ ibid. Jurgen Hingsen
‘Just invincible on that day.’ Sporting Greats: Jesse Owens, sports writer
‘Ultimately, the anti-boycott forces prevailed.’ ibid.
‘The AAU decided Jesse Owens was finished as an athlete.’ ibid.
Paula Radcliffe’s first attempt at the marathon came at London in 2002. Sporting Greats: Paula Radcliffe
Radcliffe went on to break the marathon world record in Chicago at the end of 2002. ibid.
The urine sample of Ben Johnson, Canada, Athletics 100 metre, collected on Saturday 24th September 1988, was found to contain the metabolic of a banned substance namely Stanozalol. Olympic doping committee televised announcement
Cathy Freeman was Australia’s most famous Aboriginal athlete ... Australia was willing her to win ... A symbolic gold for the host nation. Hall of Fame: The Deciders
Kelly Holmes had emerged in the mid-80s as a promising athlete. Leading up to the 1996 games she was a genuine contender for a gold medal ... For Kelly this [2004] was her last chance at Olympic glory ... Halfway through the race [800m] Kelly was second last ... Just as in the 800m Kelly took up a position at the back of the field [1500m]. The timing of her sprint was crucial. After so many problems Kelly Holmes was a double Olympic champion. Hall of Fame: Kelly Holmes
Once in a while two sportsmen have a rivalry that’s so intense it comes to define them. Seb Coe and Steve Ovett were two such people. And their names will ever be associated with their clash over two races at the 1980 Olympic Games. Hall of Fame: Coe v Ovett; Hall of Fame: Clash of the Titans
All eyes were on Coe and Ovett as the 800m started ... Coe had left it too late, and Ovett had won the 800m Olympic gold. ibid.
So when Los Angeles picked up the Olympic baton the Hollywood script-writers went into overdrive. And the undisputed star of the show was Carl Lewis. Hall of Fame: In a League of Their Own
Lewis’s first jump was over twenty-eight feet – a lead of almost a foot and a half over his nearest competitor. ibid.
Lewis won his fourth gold medal beating the world record [relay] by three-hundredths of a second. ibid.
Run in God’s name, and let the world stand back and wonder. Chariots of Fire 1981 starring Ben Cross & Ian Charleson & Nicholas Farrell & Nigel Havers & Ian Holm & John Gielgud & Lindsay Anderson & Cheryl Campbell & Alice Krige & Nigel Davenport & Patrick Magee & David Yelland & Brad Davis et al, director Hugh Hudson, advice to Eric
I want to compare faith to running in a race. ibid. Eric preaching to crowd in rain
Games? I’ve seen better organised riots. ibid. Sam at Scottish games with Eric
I don’t run to take beatings. I run to win. ibid. Eric to lady friend
Sprinters run on nerves. ibid. Sam to Eric
You are the favoured few. ibid. advice to assembled athletes on boat
Bullied day in day out ... chucked over ... and for what? ... Ten lonely seconds to justify my whole existence. But will I? ibid. Harold
Anti-doping experts ... This data – which has come from records held by the IAAF and have never been released before, according to these two experts the evidence which has been seen by the BBC shows that one third of medals in endurance events at Olympics Wold Championships between 2001 and 2012 have been won by athletes who recorded suspicious blood results. BBC News report 2nd August 2015
‘That race was supposed to be Mary’s.’ The Fall: Decker vs Budd, Sky Atlantic 2016
‘They have a fantastic compulsive need to over-compensate. Go beyond. If they didn’t have that, they couldn’t make the sacrifices necessary to achieve that level of success.’ ibid. coach
‘I knew inside her [Mary] there was something that was missing.’ ibid.
‘And Decker’s down. The world champion is now flat out on the infield.’ ibid. Coleman’s commentary
‘Zola Budd’s decision not to return to Britain is headline news in South Africa …’ ibid. television commentary
Mo Farah is at the centre of the London Olympic Gangs ... This film follows Mo over the Olympic year that will define his legacy. Mo Farah: Race of His Life, BBC 2016
‘I lost the five Olympics medals … The most devastating loss: the loss of my freedom.’ Marion Jones: Press Pause, ESPN 2010
‘I betrayed your trust.’ ibid. courthouse confession
She was a global superstar. ibid.
It was the denials, the multiple public denials … ibid.
Olympic Stadium Seoul South Korea 24th September 1988: ‘What a race; this is the race of this century.’ 9.79, Da Silver in lane one, ESPN 2012
The world record is gone again. ibid. David Coleman
He [Johnson] just didn’t have the core talent. ibid. Lewis
It was a dilemma that every runner in the Seoul runner would have to confront at some point in their career. ibid. tester
Some of our results were lost. Some number of cases never saw the light of day. ibid.
Not only had results gone missing, but there was now a new substance on the scene that was not detectable at all to the testers. ibid. commentary
1984: The Growth Hormone Games. ibid.
The main supplier in North America was Robert Kerr, a doctor based in Los Angeles. ibid.
Avoiding a positive required nothing more than looking at a calendar. ibid.