Steve Cram desires for his 1500 meter record to be broken
Of British origin, now retired Steve Cram is amongst the highest league of athletes the world will remember. His forte being the 1500 meters, Steve Cram left behind an aura and legacy that is unchallenged even decades after his decision to announce retirement from the world of athletics.
The year of 1985 served to be the pinnacle of this British athlete’s career, as he set world records in his name in the arena of fifteen hundred meters, two thousand meters, as well as the mile, accomplishing this feat in nineteen days. He also has the privilege and honour of being the first man in the history of athletics to run for fifteen hundred meters in a completion time of less than three minutes and thirty seconds.
Amongst his athletic memoirs are a momentous gold medal victory at the World Championships in 1983, and another gold medal win at the Olympic Games in 1984, both in the field of fifteen hundred meters. 16th July 2010 marked twenty five years of the record that Steve Cram set, appearing as an occasion at which not only more than two decades ago a British athlete was able to establish his might and potential in front of the whole world, but also a reminder of his physical strength and his aptness at the athletic field.
It served to establish the fact that Steve Cram is undoubtedly an athlete whose skills are totally unparalleled, since more than two decades after his setting the world record, there fails to emerge a single athlete who can surpass, let alone arrive close to it.
Now enjoying the position of the British ambassador for Atos Origin, which is an international IT partner for the International Olympic Committee, as well as a prominent commentator for athletic events and tournaments, Steve Cram yearns for his record to be broken by another British athlete.
He recently released a statement delivering that although it undoubtedly felt honourable for a record to be in his name even twenty five years after it was first set. He nevertheless would love to see a British runner surpass at least the current British record, if not anything else. However, he noted that the prospects of such an instant did not seem too bright.
Steve Cram, in his discussion regarding his desire to see his world record surpassed by a British, conveyed that according to him it was less of lack of talent and more of a cultural shift taking place amongst British lads that has as yet prevented his record from being broken. He believes that young lads do not aim to work effortlessly on something when they are unaware what the end of it will be, an idea he validates through an example of football.
While one tends to agree with Steve Cram that there is a dire need to produce athletes of such class that they can at least attempt to target records, at the same time one finds it hard to ignore that the failure to do so establishes the true legacy of Steve Cram more than anything else. While the absence of prominent and well versed athletes in the British squad is indefinitely a reason of concern for the country, it at the same time effectively reminds us of the physical strength, athletic skills, and the mere elegance of Cram. Whether Steve Cram’s vision of his record being broken is formulated into a reality or not remains to be seen, but it is undeniable that Cram will always be remembered as one of the best athletes ever in the history of athletics.
Tags: