Portland Observer, January 28, 1982 Page 13
O bserver A th le te s of the Year
Kermit's gone
Track Man: Sebastian Coe
Sebastian Coe — a slight, d ark
haired man
fro m
E n g la n d ’ s
M id lan d s city o f S h effield — has
been called the finest m iddle
distance runner in history.
Coe made that conclusion all but
inescapable with three world records
in a 42 day period in 1979. On July
3th, in Oslo, he took the 800 meters
in 1:42.4. O n July 17th, also in
Oslo, the mile record fell in 3:49.0,
and on August 13th, in Zurich, the
1300 meter was bested in 3:32.1.
In 1980 he went to the Moscow
O lym pics where he lost the 800
meters to his arch-rival Steve Ovett
but bounced back to capture the
gold in the 1300 meters.
Sebastian Newbold Coe was born
in C h isw ick, West London on
September 29, 1936. “ Some o f my
first recollections are o f running,”
he said. “ L o o kin g back it seems
that from the tim e I could walk I
preferred to run. It ju t seemed
natural.”
Coe was trained by his father who
later said. “ A t fourteen I knew he
was good. A t sixteeen I fe lt a
strange kind o f certainty that i f J
was patient I had a world beater.”
In 1977 Coe won the European
Indoor 800 meter championship at
2 :1 .1 , a tenth o f a second out o f
C a rlo O rip p o ’ s w orld record o f
1:43.3. A fte r a serious in ju ry in
1978, he became the first Briton to
do the 800 meters under 1:44,
w inning the U n ited Kingdom
record. H e also beat world record
holder Filbert Bayi in the 1300 meter
at 3:37.7.
F o llo w in g his trip le victo ry o f
1979 Coe headed fo r M oscow ,
rejecting his government’s pleas that
its athletes boycott the games. “ I
was also anxious that
any
governm ent, C onservative or
Labour, should not initiate sporting
sanctions fo r some short-term
p o litic a l p a y -o ff. A fte r th a t,
nothing in sport w ould have been
sacred, and international sport —
the W orld Cup in soccer or anything
else — would have been placed in an
impossible position.”
A fte r a h eartb reaking loss to
Steve Ovett, a fellow Englishman, in
the 800 Coe geared up for the 1300.
“ I tried to d rive again at 40
meters o u t, and in the next few
strides 1 knew I had nothing left if
bloody marvellous relief.”
The L o n do n D a ily M a il wrote:
“ Coe did more than win the gold
m edal. H e lifte d the soul, he
ennobled his a rt, he d ig n ified his
country . . . W atcn in g him run,
invincible, over the last 300 meters
was unforgettable. W atching him
afterwards made you even prouder,
for his conduct in triumph matched
his humility in disaster. . . ”
Co« begins his victory lap
a fte r having w on the Olym pic
Gold In the 1600 meter race.
anyone came back at me. The
anxiety over the last 20 meters was
unbearable, and it showed in my
face as I crossed the line. A fte r a
few yards 1 sank down o n to my
knees. When I watched that display
on the replay it was a bit
em barrassing, but it was such a
»Sr
meters
Coe’s career did not end with the
Olympics. On February 11, 1981, he
set a new 800 meter indoor world
record o f 1:4 6.0 and in June
destroyed his own global m ark in
the 800 with a sensational 1:41.72.
Coe believes he w ill run faster.
“ There arc a lot o f things you can
do w ith the 800 and this distance
always excited me. I expect to run
about 1:40 soon.”
Running, records and medals are
all a part o f Sebastian Coe’s life but
they are not all o f it. H e is a student
firs t. H e plans to re tire a fte r the
1983 W o rld Championships or the
1984 Olympics. ‘ By ther. 1 will have
spent enough time concentrating on
one thing, and even then it might be
too long.”
Regarding the importance o f his
M oscow v ic to ry , he said, “ The
im portance o f my gold medal in
Moscow was not just my own pride,
but the position o f influence 1 hope
it gives me to help shape athletics, to
prevent it becoming a p ro m o ter’ s
and sponsor’ s carve-up, to keep it
open for young people coming up so
that they can get races without being
told when, where and even how they
must run. I f you become famous it
gives you an o b lig a tio n . . . In all
sports we have to protect the
fundam entals o f sportsm anship,
self-determination o f the individual
and the pursuit o f excellence free o f
com m ercial expediency, and as
Voltaire said, ‘the price o f freedom
is eternal vigilance’ .
i
HAPPIER DAY: Kermit Wash
ington autographs a ball for a
fan.
“ No man is an island, entire o f it
self; every man is a part o f the con
tinent, a part o f the m ain.” Kermit
Washington was certainly a big part
o f any organization he ever joined,
especially the Trail Blazers.
Tuesday m orning K e rm it an
nounced his retirem en t fro m the
Trail Blazers and from the National
B asketball A ssociation. Plagued
w ith back, hip and ankle injuries,
Kermit has had enough.
“ I t ’ s a Catch 22 situation,” said
K erm it. “ I f I practice, I can’t play
because o f how my body feels, and
you can ’ t play i f you d o n ’ t prac
tice .” D uring pre-season training,
an old back injury recurred, aggra
vating a knee in ju ry and causing
K erm it to stop practice. A n ankle
inju ry caused him to miss the first
five games o f the 81-82 season. The
season has been that way for K er
m it, off-again, on-again, with more
injuries in between.
A fter a visit with the Los Angeles
Lakers’ team physician, D r. Robert
Kerlan, and a long conference with
the B lazers’ team physician, D r.
Bob Cook, Kermit decided to call it
quits. H e could abuse his body no
more.
“ I t ’s very difficult for an athlete
to quit. The fighter who used to be
champ always wants one more fight.
This was no rash decision. I ’ve done
everything that 1 could.”
Kermit was one o f those rare ath
letes who transcended the norm al
p ro to typ e o f an N B A player. H e
had the reputation o f being one o f
the warmest, sincerest, and hardest
workers in the N B A . N ig h t a fte r
night he came to play and while he
was in the floor, you knew he would
always give his all.
Just as he gave his all on the
c o u rt, he was a role m odel in the
com m unity. N o m atter how tired,
he never begged o ff from an auto
graph. N o matter how tired he never
shunned a personal appearance.
Kermit was not blessed with a lot
o f natural ability, but survived the
rigors o f the N B A through sheer
hard w o rk . W h ile other players
slept, Kermit was up doing three to
five hours o f running a day. He was
the first to arrive for practice and al
ways one o f the last to leave.
K erm it was one o f the most
sought after players in the N B A . A f
ter attending American University,
he began his N B A career as a first-
round draft pick o f the Los Angeles
Lakers, where he remained for 4*4
years. He then went to Boston for a
half-season and San Diego for one
season. Kermit came to Portland as
a part o f the Bill Walton trade pack
age in 1979.
1.400 meters
Four phase« on the path to the 1600 meter gold medal in the I960 Olympic Games.
At 200 Straub (330) has the lead, which he held for three-quarters of the race. Coe
(264) is running wide. Ovett Is number 279.
At 800 meters Coe is relaxed, behind Straub.
At 1.000 Straub suddenly begins his long burst for home and Coe and O vett
respond.
At 1.400 Coe makes his second kick' to take Straub and leave Ovett behind.
Tina Blair now an OSU Beaver
T in a B lair, who was one o f the
(op high school basketball players in
O regon, is adapting well to the
O regon State U n ive rs ity style o f
W e ’re getting
closer to you
than ever
This brand new Farmers
Insurance office is an exam
ple of what can happen
when Folks are really con
cerned about you and
your Family.
I ’ve opened up in a c o n
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and to belter fill them
If you already know me.
stop in and say hello
If not, com e in for a sample
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V IV IA N I. W A R R E N
play.
Blair, 18, is the daughter o f Billy
B lair and JoA n n Lom ax o f
Portland. She was one o f O S U ’s top
recruits on its wom en’ s basketball
team this season.
A ke H ill, O S U wom en's head
basketball coach, said B lair w ill
receive more playing tim e as the
season progresses. She stated,
“ Tina has great finger control and
uses her strong build well to help her
rebounding.”
The 5-10 high post, who was all
league for three years at M arshall
H igh School, was surprised the
intensity o f the practices in college.
She said, “ I didn’ t realize you had
to devote so many hours to the
game.” She added that it took some
getting used to.
The hard w ork has paid o f f
though, as Blair scored her first two
OSU hosts gymnasts
vpv.. Kxtsstv win vvi any anu me
Shanico Inn o f C o rva llis have
entered an agreement to sponsor the
second annual O SU Shanico Inn-
V ita tio n a l gymnastics meet. The
meet w ill be a tw o -d ay a ffa ir
featuring eight o f the top women’ s
gymnastics teams in the cou n try.
The meet will be held on February
19th and 20th at O S U ’ s G ill
Coliseum.
in c iic iu lo r the 1982 meet
includes Oregon State, Oklahom a
State, O h io State. U S C , Brigham
Young. W ashington, W ashington
State and Oregon.
The first h a lf o f the S alvatio n
A rm y Saturday Basketball League
Street Blues. 27; Lester Crain o f the
Moore Street Whites 25
has been completed and Alexander’s
The second half of the
season gets
underway this Saturday. January
30th at 11 a m. in the P .C .C . gym.
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Oregon State won last y ea r’ s
in itia l Shanico meet (1 4 5 .9 0 ) and
Sandra Sm ith o f L ouisiana State
was the in d iv id u al a ll-aro u n d
champion (37.75).
Alexander's leads league
5 FARMERS a
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points as a Beaver, sinking two free
throw s at the end o f the game to
beat San Jose State in double over
time.
The freshm an is playing an
average o f 10 minutes a game. Blair
said, “ Rebounding and good
defense are my strong points.” She
is averaging three rebounds a game
and had five early season steals.
H ill said that next season B lair
w ill be moved to fo rw a rd . “ This
will require a transition from inside
to outside sh o o tin g ," stated H ill,
and added, “ I f we w ork on her
form . I ’ m confident her shooting
will cotnc quickly.”
Blair, a business m ajor, said the
change in position is going to take a
lot o f practice. She stated, “ I ’ m
really going to hve to work on my
outside shots.” She added that she
is ready for the challenge.
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