Speaking on the eve of the women's 800m final, Sebastian Coe – a three-time European medallist in the event himself – broke down why the 500-600m mark will decide whether Keely Hodgkinson, Audrey Werro or Femke Broeders-Bol leaves Birmingham with gold.
Seb Coe says tonight’s women’s 800m at the European Championships could be the race of the year and it will be decided by whoever handles the “killing zone” from 500-600m the best and emerges with something to spare for the final 200m.
The showdown sees reigning Olympic and European champion and host nation hope Keely Hodgkinson against current world No.1 Audrey Werro of Switzerland and 400m hurdler-turned-800m runner Femke Broeders-Bol.
With Hodgkinson and Werro both committed front runners, Coe believes the back straight stretch will prove crucial – the “killing zone” as he calls it – with the race likely to be won or lost in that section, providing they can survive the final 200m.
Coe finished third in the 1978 European 800m behind Olaf Beyer and Steve Ovett in the early part of his career after having blasted through the first lap in an unprecedented 49.3 seconds. At the 1982 European Championships he was surprisingly beaten by Hans-Peter Ferner of West Germany. But the world record-holder returned in 1986 to famously beat Tom McKean and Steve Cram at the Europeans in Stuttgart with the trio of Brits rounding the final bend likened to “Spitfires from out of the sun”.
Speaking on Friday morning in Birmingham a few hours before the women’s final, Coe's eyes lit up with excitement when talking about the race. He is clearly a fan of Broeders-Bol and believes she has great potential over 800m, although the patriotic side of him wants Hodgkinson to win on home soil.
Many things can happen in an 800m race – as we saw in Thursday’s semi-finals when dramatically Werro fell with 120m to go, only to be swiftly reinstated – and Coe says you can get away with the odd tactical mistake in a 1500m or mile but “there is no room for error in an 800m”.
One thing seems clear, though: Hodgkinson and Werro could be battling for pole position down the back straight, with Broeders-Bol hanging on to use her speed potentially in the home straight.
In Coe’s era, the three-time European 400m hurdles champion, Harald Schmid of West Germany, moved up to 800m briefly and ran an impressive 1:44.83 toward the end of his career. Schmid told AW earlier this year that Broeders-Bol’s move to 800m was “a great idea”, too. “I like a sprinter switching to the 800m,” he added. “Modern 800m races are closer and closer to a sprint.”
When asked if he was worried about Schmid becoming a rival over 800m in the 1980s, Coe smiled and then told a story about Ed Moses, the 400m hurdles legend, making noises during the same period about breaking the world 800m record.
Coe challenged him to a showdown over 600m, as he felt an 800m clash wouldn’t be fair, but Moses stayed with the one-lap hurdles and the head-to-head never happened.
It's a nice reminder that even the greatest rivalries in this sport sometimes never quite happen. Tonight, Hodgkinson, Werro and Broeders-Bol won't have that luxury – whatever unfolds in the "killing zone", Birmingham is about to get the head-to-head Coe and Moses never did.
