Museum of World Athletics – our 5 favourite items
The Museum of World Athletics – or MOWA for short – has been launched this week.
To read more about it CLICK HERE but read on if you would like to know our top five items currently being showcased.
The World Athletics president has donated his singlet and racing spikes to the museum from the 1984 Olympics where he took 800m silver and then 1500m gold, successfully defending the metric mile title he won in Moscow.
The spikes shown here were worn when he clocked an Olympic record of 3:32.53 and they are unusual in that they are essentially ‘sprint spikes’ with minimal midsole support.
Indeed Coe has said in the past that he preferred to race in aggressive spikes like this and his running style very much saw him running up on his toes with not much of a heel strike.
In addition to his Olympic honours, Coe set nine world records outdoors over various distances, including two at 800m, one at 1500m and three at the mile.
Herb Elliott won the 1960 Olympic 1500m title in a world record of 3:35.6 and in support of the Museum of World Athletics he has donated his singlet from the Rome Games.
Elliott famously hit the front on the second bend of the penultimate lap in the final and was never headed before setting a standard that would last for almost seven years.
The design of the Australia singlet, with its distinctive three diagonal stripes, barely changed over 20 years and was worn at five Olympic Games from 1956 to 1972.
“We can assure you it will be in a safe home at MOWA,” said Seb Coe last week in a video call with Elliott.
Lewis propelled himself to levels of international fame that extended beyond athletics aficionados at the inaugural IAAF World Championships with three outstanding wins, seemingly achieved with consummate ease.
His first won the long jump with 8.55m then took the 100m in 10.07, both victories achieved by big margins over his nearest rival then ran a flying anchor leg on the USA’s triumphant 4x100m team that carried the quartet to a world record 37.86.
This singlet is Lewis’s from the 1986 Goodwill Games in Moscow but its design, by the same manufacturer, is almost identical to the one he wore in the Finnish capital.
Naturally the museum would look odd if it did not have an item belonging to Usain Bolt and the Jamaican sprinter has donated a singlet and number from Daegu where he won the 200m and helped set a world record in the 4x100m.
The items shown here are especially important as they are mementos of Bolt returning to his usual stunning form after his shock disqualification for a false start in the 100m final. In the longer sprint, perhaps mindful of his 100m disaster earlier in the championships, he started cautiously but was soon into his running and well in the lead halfway into the race before winning in 19.40.
He was to win again over 200m at the next two world championships in Moscow and Beijing. On a historical note, this was only the second world championships with names on bibs, rather than numbers, the practice having been introduced two years earlier in Berlin.
Valerie Adams warmed up with this implement ahead of winning her gold medal in London, retaining the title she had won in Beijing four years earlier.
The New Zealand throws legend won the competition with an effort of 20.70m and her two other valid throws were also better than her nearest rival.
In addition to her two Olympic victories, Adams also won four consecutive world titles outdoors between 2007-2013 and four successive world indoor titles between 2008-2014.
This is not the only throwing implement in the museum, too. There is also a javelin from world record-holder Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic and, like all artefacts in the online museum, fans are able to zoom in close to examine the small scratches, stains and imperfections in 3D.
» For more about the Museum of World Athletics, CLICK HERE
