I would not like to see the mile returned to the Commonwealth Games says Walter Sargent

"Offering both the 1500m and mile in the Commonwealth Games would dilute the fields and encourage some of the game-playing that was rampant in the 1980s, when top competitors were using the proliferation of both mile and 1500 events," says Walter Sargent. "This was done often at the same meet, to avoid head-to-head races against their most difficult challengers. As for the choice between the 1500 and the mile, I much prefer the ease of viewing the race as four quarters and calculating splits in a mile, but I wouldn't want to see the mile returned to the Commonwealth Games as a way of extending the sentiment and mythology of the Bannister and Landy races of 1954 or the dominance of Commonwealth milers in earlier eras. The history of the 1500 at the Commonwealth Games is every bit as impressive as the ealier mile competitions; in fact, probably the single greatest middle-distance race at the Commonwealth Games was Filbert Bayi's 1500 world record (photo) at the 1974 Games."

posted Monday April 9th
by Walter H. Sargent