A few days before the annual Zurich Grand Prix, I spotted a few members of Team GB collecting their luggage at Heathrow airport. I presumed that they were returning from Sestriere before heading off for the Weltklasse. I called out to Colin Jackson, to which I received a ‘thumbs up’. Some of the Brits had performed really well in Italy. Linford recorded a 10.17 in the 100m and Colin smashed the European 110m hurdles record with a 13.11. I was looking forward to seeing their progress in Switzerland on the 17th. Better still, I couldn’t wait to catch up with the Carl v Ben rivalry, their first re-match since Rome 1987.
On the evening of Wednesday the 17th I was invited out to dinner, but instead of mingling with the other guests I was glued to a TV. At around 7pm, the first event aired on BBC 1 was a scintillating 400m, a seriously ‘jaw to the floor’ event. The 43.30 that flashed up on the screen was insane. Reynolds thundering home in an 11.1 split was the most remarkable sight I’d come across in athletics since Koch’s 47.60 3 years earlier.
400 A
43.29 Butch Reynolds
44.20 Danny Everett
44.26 Steve Lewis
I immediately got up, said goodbye to the host, and ran back home to make sure that my dad was taping all the action. I couldn’t risk not recording this track meet. Due to my own run over 1 mile, I didn’t get to see the two 800m races live, but I arrived just in time for the 100m C race.
100 C
10.20 Harvey Glance
10.23 Stanley Floyd
Eight years after taking 1st and 2nd place at the 1980 US Olympic Trials, Glance and Floyd were at it again. Back in Eugene a fast finishing Floyd had pipped Glance at the tape but this time his rush for the line wasn’t as successful. They both ran their annual bests in Zurich and it left me wandering what they would have done had they both gone to Moscow. Floyd had twice in 1980 bettered Wells’ 10.11 and had consistently been under 10.20 all season. Glance too had shown that he could rise to the occasion, with his 4th place in Montreal 1976.
100 B
10.12 Brian Cooper
10.13 Lee McNeill
10.15 Mike Marsh
In the lead up to the B race commentator Ron Pickering mentioned that the 8 sprinters would all be getting down into a crouch start, and that 1988 marked 100 years since Charles Sherrill first got into that position. Later on, after Pavoni false started, Ron joked that in Rome he might have gotten away with it, but not here in Zurich. He later added that Pavoni was actually one of the most honest ones who condemned the Italian officials back in ’87.
100 A
9.93 Carl Lewis
9.97 Calvin Smith
10.00 Ben Johnson
10.04 Chidi Imoh
10.07 Linford Christie
10.08 Dennis Mitchell
10.09 Ray Stewart
10.19 Desai Williams
While the athletes from the B Final were jogging back to pick up their belongings, Ben was already causing a stir. Testing his blocks before stripping off his tracksuit, he leapt off the starting line with such force that the blocks were taken clean out of the ground. Skidding forwards and dropping into a push-up position, he effortlessly held himself up on his fingertips. At the gun, Ben was first off the blocks but the athletes were recalled. The amazing thing was that Ben made the decision before the starter could respond, putting the brakes on before the second gun sounded. Afterwards he complained that a camera had put him off and that he shouldn’t have been given a yellow card. At the second time of asking Ben stormed through 60m but Carl was at his shoulder by 80, and it even looked like Ben braked back as he knew that Carl had got him. It was tremendous sprinting by everyone and a perfect boost a month before Seoul.
1500
3:34.82 Dieter Baumann
3:35.20 Jim Spivey
3:35.22 Joachim Cruz
The brilliant Brazilian who crushed Seb Coe in 1984 was finally back in action. Having suffered from Achilles tendinitis for the last 2 seasons, here he was again, loping along the back straight, trailing Guldberg and Kwizera with 250m to go. Then came the trademark Cruz kick, passing the front-runners at 200m. In the finishing straight it looked as though the win would be his, but then came Baumann, striding past the Brazilian to clock his best time of the year.
200 A
22.31 Danette Young
22.33 Gwen Torrence
22.36 Grace Jackson
Danette Young, who had finished a disappointing 6th at the US trials, but had a string of good wins in Europe, was stretching away at the 150m point. With 10m to go Torrence pulled her back, only to be caught by Jackson’s raking strides. With a metre to go they all dipped simultaneously, but Jackson dived face first onto the track in an effort to get to the line. It looked like her shoulder was pretty badly scraped.
400 B
44.67 Derek Redmond
45.04 Bert Cameron
45.09 Clarence Daniel
Derek posted the 3rd fastest time ever run by a Brit, only he and Roger Black having run faster. Cameron, with a PR 44.58 from 1981 had yet to break 45 sec in ’88. At the US Trials, Daniel interestingly finished slower as the rounds advanced, going from 44.75 to 45.12 to 45.37 in the final.