The Coe and Ovett Olympic showdowns in Moscow are iconic moments, writes Mick O’Hare, but few people remember the athlete who managed to come between them over 1500m

“And Straub can’t wait any longer,” called BBC commentator David Coleman. “He knows the Britons have got the finish, so he’s got to go.”

Back in the UK, all eyes were focused on those aforementioned Britons – the multiple world record-holders Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett. In the lead-up to the final of the men’s 1500m at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, all of the attention was placed upon that duo. The only question in most people’s minds centred around which of them would get gold and which would get silver. Nobody was thinking about Jürgen Straub.

Coe and Ovett had been avoiding each other for the previous two years, with sights set firmly on their inevitable denouement in the Russian capital. Six days earlier the former had run a tactically inept race in the final of the 800m and, despite being favourite for that event, ended up with silver behind his great rival. Now, it was Ovett’s turn to be favourite for the 1500m – he hadn’t been beaten in three years over the distance – but Coe was desperate to make amends. 

Nobody in the field possessed Coe’s devastating finishing kick and a slow race would play into his hands. And slow it was, for the first two laps. At this point Straub knew he only had one option. And he took it.

With 700m remaining, the East German struck out, increasing the pace from pedestrian to painful. “The long run for home is on,” pronounced Coleman. After two 62.5-second laps, the following 400m was covered in 54 seconds. The field was strung out as they hit 150m to go, with Coe on Straub’s shoulder, poised, and Ovett just behind. Straub looked like he was a sitting duck and Coe surged past, using that famed devastating finish. 

Everybody expected Ovett to follow, but Straub maintained his stride and his rhythm. “Ovett gathers himself,” called Coleman. “But Straub’s on the far side… Ovett is in trouble… and Coe gets the revenge he wants. And second is Straub…” 

Coe crossed the line arms outstretched and fell to the floor in a puddle of relief. Behind him Straub punched the air, celebrating his own remarkable run – his greatest triumph on the biggest of stages. But there was something else exceptional about the performance apart from the fact that it produced a silver medal…common consensus is that Straub ran clean.

The same could not be said for the majority of his East German team-mates at those Games. Men’s long jump champion Lutz Dombrowski, women’s 200m champion Bärbel Wöckel, men’s marathon winner Waldemar Cierpinski and women’s shot put winner Ilona Slupianek were all shown to be participants in Staatsplanthema 14.25, the most comprehensive state-sponsored sports doping system ever witnessed. 

It began in 1973 and ran almost until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Children were recruited for their early sporting prowess and, nearly always without parental consent, were administered with anabolic steroids and male hormones. It meant athletes could train harder, longer and their recovery times were shortened. Medals and world records rolled in.

But they came at huge cost. Following retirement, and often before, years of drug abuse began to show. Male hormones gave women deeper voices, and male hair-pattern growth. Yet these were minor considerations alongside early-onset liver, kidney and heart disease, infertility, miscarriage, birth defects, mental health issues and cancer. Staatsplanthema 14.25 killed more people than guards at the Berlin Wall did.

Nonetheless, until the whole edifice came tumbling down when the Wall fell, East Germany’s socialist government basked in athletic success. By the time Moscow’s Olympic flame had been extinguished, East Germany had won 47 gold medals, an incredible – in all senses of the word – achievement for a nation of only 17 million people.

Yet it is within this context that Jürgen Straub’s courageous run at Moscow must be viewed. Born in Thuringia in 1958, his nascent athletic talent became apparent and, aged 15, he was offered a place at the state youth sports school in Brandenburg an der Havel. His strength led to him becoming a 3000m steeplechaser, taking victory at his national championships three times before a back injury forced a switch to the 1500m. But the stamina built up during his years over the barriers would be put to good use, not least in the Moscow final.

His reputation as a solid competitor grew. At the European Cup in 1975 he placed fifth in the 1500m and then secured bronze at the 1977 and 1979 World Cups.

“One of my strongest memories is the 1977 World Cup,” he says. “That year our track and field team won East Germany’s Sports Team of the Year. We still meet every year and talk about those times.”

After taking gold at the 1977 European Indoor Championships in San Sebastián, he secured another at the 1979 European Cup in Turin. Straub went into the Olympic year of 1980 with confidence, and it was not to be misplaced.

However, once Staatsplanthema 14.25 was exposed, question marks hung over the validity of any medal won by East Germany’s athletes. There are commentators who argue that everybody who entered the nation’s sports system doped. It was an obligation you couldn’t avoid.

Naturally, Straub denies any involvement and he has a strong case. The balance of probabilities weighs heavily in his favour. He did not suffer the pernicious effects of the drugs that nearly all of his team-mates endured. And he was male. More often girls and young women were recruited because steroids and hormones had greater impact on female performance.

Most significantly of all, Straub was not on the comprehensive list of steroid users compiled by Dr Hartmut Riedel, a leading figure in the doping programme, when he was testifying at the post-German reunification investigation into Staatsplanthema 14.25. Straub was an Olympic medallist, not an obscure athlete erroneously omitted and Riedel said as much. Also, Straub’s name does not appear in Joseph Tudor’s book Synthetic Medals, documenting the doping programme. 

It would seem, then, that Straub’s Olympic silver was almost certainly earned without resorting to performance-enhancing drugs. His misfortune was to be representing East Germany during an era of deep scepticism.

“I look back with emotion,” he says today. “My tactics were well thought through. A long sprint had always been my strength and in Moscow we knew this was my only chance of making the podium. A short sprint over the last 100m against Seb and Steve would have failed, so we considered at what point in the race I could take the initiative. 

“When I arrived in Moscow and discovered Filbert Bayi [the Tanzanian former world-record holder renowned for his front running] wasn't registered for the 1500m, I was disappointed. He would have definitely set the pace, so I needed a new plan. An 800m sprint for home was too long. I had tried it in the East German Championships and in the end didn't quite have the strength for it, although fortunately it was still enough to win the title.

“But it wouldn’t work against Seb and Steve, so I decided to go from 700m out. Watch the recording. My gaze goes to the left shortly before. That was a quick check of the intermediate time. Then my upper body moves slightly forward. Then there was only one thing left to do: step on the gas and keep pushing. I thought: ‘Whatever happens, if you want to win, you have to pass me’. When Seb launched his attack 100m from the finish, I didn't know who it was. I just knew somebody else was still behind. I was so happy with the silver and I get goosebumps when I watch that race. I ask myself today: ‘How did you do that?’ My wife Conny was in the stadium and she covered her eyes during the final lap.

“There’s something else I recall very clearly. It was so strange. In the preparation room moments before entering the stadium, Seb was sitting next to me. Suddenly, his hand was on my calf. “I don’t think he was trying to psyche me out. He was probably just trying to find out if it was loose. I nodded to him. I doubt he remembers it.

“The memories remain so fresh – I had many wonderful encounters with athletes from all over the world, but sadly I didn't see Seb and Steve again after Moscow.”

It has been suggested in some quarters that the American-led boycott of the 1980 Games in protest at the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan meant the 1500m field wasn’t as strong as it might have been, with defending champion John Walker of New Zealand and Steve Scott of the USA absent. But neither were expected to challenge Coe or Ovett, let alone split them as Straub did. Even the prominent East German sports journalist Heinz Florian Oertel wrote on the eve of the race: “There is only one question here: Ovett before Coe or Coe before Ovett?”. 

“It’s not something I ever let him forget,” smiles Straub.

Unfortunately, following his Moscow success, no more medals would come Straub’s way. “In April 1980 I developed pain in my adductor area,” he explains. “Pain-free training became impossible but with physiotherapy I was able to compete in Moscow. Afterwards X-rays showed wear on my hip joints. The femoral head and acetabulum no longer fitted.” Straub’s competitive career was over at the age of 26 and now, aged 70, he lives with a prosthetic hip. “A shame, but at least my last international competition was my best,” he says.

It was. Coe and Ovett had innate talent. Beating either required hard work and impeccable tactics and Straub displayed the worth of both in Moscow on August 1, 1980. As British athletics coach George Gandy would later say: “To be honest, if anyone deserved gold that day, it was Straub.”