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Joaquim Cruz : One of the all time greats Joaquim Cruz has every reason to celebrate: he has just completed victory in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic 800 m final! In 1984 and 1985 Cruz dominated the 800 m, breaking 1:43.00 no less than six times and winning almost every race he took part in. He attacked the world record, then held by Sebastian Coe, several times, and in Köln 1984 was just four hundredths of a second short. Cruz held the top spot on the top 5 average from 1985 to 1997 when Wilson Kipketer replaced him as the new number one. Twenty five years after his peak he still remains in the top three - and does so with an impressive margin to the next athletes as well. |
| # | Athlete | Top 5 Avg | Mark #1 | Mark #2 | Mark #3 | Mark #4 | Mark #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Rudisha | 1.41.39 | 1.41.01 | 1.41.09 | 1.41.33 | 1.41.51 | 1.42.01 |
| 2 | Wilson Kipketer | 1.41.62 | 1.41.11 | 1.41.24 | 1.41.73 | 1.41.83 | 1.42.17 |
| 3 | Joaquim Cruz | 1.42.31 | 1.41.77 | 1.42.34 | 1.42.41 | 1.42.49 | 1.42.54 |
| 4 | Wilfred Bungei | 1.42.79 | 1.42.34 | 1.42.52 | 1.42.96 | 1.43.05 | 1.43.06 |
| 5 | Johnny Gray | 1.42.82 | 1.42.60 | 1.42.65 | 1.42.80 | 1.42.96 | 1.43.10 |
| 6 | Sebastian Coe | 1.42.83 | 1.41.73 | 1.42.33 | 1.43.07 | 1.43.38 | 1.43.64 |
| 7 | Abubaker Kaki | 1.42.84 | 1.42.23 | 1.42.69 | 1.43.09 | 1.43.10 | 1.43.10 |
| 8 | André Bucher | 1.42.85 | 1.42.55 | 1.42.75 | 1.42.90 | 1.42.92 | 1.43.12 |
| 9 | Japheth Kimutai | 1.42.88 | 1.42.69 | 1.42.76 | 1.42.87 | 1.42.98 | 1.43.09 |
| 10 | Hezekiél Sepeng | 1.42.98 | 1.42.69 | 1.42.74 | 1.43.12 | 1.43.16 | 1.43.19 |
| 11 | Yuriy Borzakovskiy | 1.43.03 | 1.42.47 | 1.42.79 | 1.43.17 | 1.43.30 | 1.43.42 |
| 12 | Mbulaeni Mulaudzi | 1.43.07 | 1.42.86 | 1.42.89 | 1.43.09 | 1.43.25 | 1.43.26 |
| 13 | Patrick Ndururi | 1.43.15 | 1.42.62 | 1.42.90 | 1.43.21 | 1.43.45 | 1.43.57 |
| 14 | Vebjørn Rodal | 1.43.17 | 1.42.58 | 1.42.95 | 1.43.25 | 1.43.50 | 1.43.56 |
| 15 | William Yiampoy | 1.43.21 | 1.42.91 | 1.43.00 | 1.43.29 | 1.43.36 | 1.43.50 |
| 16 | Steve Cram | 1.43.26 | 1.42.88 | 1.43.19 | 1.43.22 | 1.43.42 | 1.43.61 |
| 17 | Sam Koskei | 1.43.33 | 1.42.28 | 1.43.28 | 1.43.51 | 1.43.78 | 1.43.80 |
| 18 | Youssef Saad Kamel | 1.43.34 | 1.42.79 | 1.43.11 | 1.43.43 | 1.43.61 | 1.43.75 |
| 19 | José Luiz Barbosa | 1.43.37 | 1.43.08 | 1.43.20 | 1.43.34 | 1.43.49 | 1.43.75 |
| 20 | Paul Ereng | 1.43.43 | 1.43.16 | 1.43.22 | 1.43.45 | 1.43.60 | 1.43.72 |
| 21 | William Tanui | 1.43.47 | 1.43.30 | 1.43.37 | 1.43.39 | 1.43.62 | 1.43.66 |
| 22 | Djabir Saïd-Guerni | 1.43.47 | 1.43.09 | 1.43.25 | 1.43.32 | 1.43.79 | 1.43.92 |
| 23 | Patrick Konchellah | 1.43.48 | 1.42.98 | 1.43.39 | 1.43.50 | 1.43.75 | 1.43.80 |
| 24 | Nixon Kiprotich | 1.43.50 | 1.43.31 | 1.43.38 | 1.43.54 | 1.43.55 | 1.43.70 |
| 25 | Joseph Mutua | 1.43.53 | 1.43.33 | 1.43.35 | 1.43.52 | 1.43.63 | 1.43.81 |
| 26 | Arthémon Hatungimana | 1.43.53 | 1.43.38 | 1.43.46 | 1.43.56 | 1.43.56 | 1.43.71 |
| 27 | Asbel Kiprop | 1.43.54 | 1.43.15 | 1.43.17 | 1.43.45 | 1.43.48 | 1.44.46 |
| 28 | Amine Laalou | 1.43.55 | 1.43.25 | 1.43.36 | 1.43.68 | 1.43.71 | 1.43.76 |
| 29 | Alfred Kirwa Yego | 1.43.62 | 1.42.67 | 1.43.66 | 1.43.89 | 1.43.91 | 1.43.97 |
| 30 | Billy Konchellah | 1.43.62 | 1.43.06 | 1.43.39 | 1.43.72 | 1.43.96 | 1.43.98 |
| 31 | David Kiptoo | 1.43.63 | 1.43.38 | 1.43.42 | 1.43.60 | 1.43.85 | 1.43.90 |
| 32 | Mark Everett | 1.43.65 | 1.43.20 | 1.43.40 | 1.43.67 | 1.43.93 | 1.44.03 |
| 33 | Alberto Juantorena | 1.43.66 | 1.43.44 | 1.43.50 | 1.43.64 | 1.43.66 | 1.44.04 |
| 34 | Peter Elliott | 1.43.71 | 1.42.97 | 1.43.41 | 1.43.98 | 1.44.06 | 1.44.12 |
| 35 | Bram Som | 1.43.71 | 1.43.45 | 1.43.52 | 1.43.59 | 1.43.98 | 1.44.01 |
| 36 | Frederic Onyancha | 1.43.71 | 1.42.79 | 1.43.74 | 1.43.92 | 1.44.02 | 1.44.10 |
| 37 | Norberto Téllez | 1.43.74 | 1.42.85 | 1.43.79 | 1.43.99 | 1.44.00 | 1.44.05 |
| 38 | Sammy Langat | 1.43.74 | 1.43.26 | 1.43.67 | 1.43.84 | 1.43.96 | 1.43.96 |
| 39 | Jean-Patrick Nduwimana | 1.43.74 | 1.42.81 | 1.43.78 | 1.43.91 | 1.44.06 | 1.44.16 |
| 40 | Boaz Lalang | 1.43.76 | 1.42.95 | 1.43.29 | 1.44.13 | 1.44.20 | 1.44.22 |
| 41 | Benson Koech | 1.43.84 | 1.43.17 | 1.43.45 | 1.44.03 | 1.44.20 | 1.44.36 |
| 42 | Robert Kibet | 1.43.87 | 1.43.66 | 1.43.70 | 1.43.91 | 1.44.00 | 1.44.06 |
| 43 | Rick Wohlhuter | 1.43.87 | 1.43.50 | 1.43.90 | 1.43.91 | 1.44.00 | 1.44.03 |
| 44 | Kenneth Kimwetich | 1.43.91 | 1.43.03 | 1.43.98 | 1.44.13 | 1.44.20 | 1.44.21 |
| 45 | Nick Symmonds | 1.43.92 | 1.43.76 | 1.43.83 | 1.43.83 | 1.44.06 | 1.44.10 |
| 46 | Mike Boit | 1.43.92 | 1.43.57 | 1.43.79 | 1.43.90 | 1.44.14 | 1.44.18 |
| 47 | Gary Reed | 1.43.95 | 1.43.68 | 1.43.93 | 1.43.95 | 1.44.03 | 1.44.16 |
| 48 | Agberto Guimarães | 1.43.95 | 1.43.63 | 1.43.78 | 1.43.87 | 1.43.91 | 1.44.58 |
| 49 | Khadevis Robinson | 1.43.98 | 1.43.68 | 1.43.86 | 1.44.03 | 1.44.13 | 1.44.21 |
| 50 | Mahjoub Haïda | 1.43.99 | 1.43.50 | 1.43.57 | 1.44.13 | 1.44.31 | 1.44.42 |
| 51 | William Chirchir | 1.43.99 | 1.43.33 | 1.43.84 | 1.44.02 | 1.44.12 | 1.44.63 |