M45 Whiteman lowers 800 WR to aw, you’ll never believe it anyway

AW was the subject of a 2016 article in AW.

Who would be the first M45 to run sub-1:54 in the outdoor 800? That was answered several weeks ago, when British Olympian Anthony Whiteman scorched two laps in 1:53.40 and shattered Sal Allah’s 2005 mark of 1:54.18. Then came: Who could go sub-1:53? Whiteman replied with a 1:51.3 — breaking the 1:52 barrier as well. Now what do we make of Anthony’s outing Sunday at the Loughborough International? Competing in a heat won in 1:48.68, AW lowered his season best to a head-smacking 1:50.52 — only 2 seconds off the listed M40 WR of 1:48.22 (by Anthony, of course). If Anthony had run 1:50.52 early in the 20th century, he would have been the world record holder going into the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. (Fellow Brit Tommy Hampson was the first to go sub-1:50 when he won gold at L.A. in 1:49.8.) Another way to look at 1:50.52 — he would have made the semifinals of the M45 400 at Perth worlds with just one of his back-to-back 55.26s. Unbelievable. Now let’s see him run some other distances. The listed WRs are 49.69 (but 49.12 awaiting ratification), 3:51.22 (1500) and 4:16.09 (mile). See Tony (in yellow top) battle the kiddies:

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May 22, 2017

4 Responses

  1. Matt B. - May 23, 2017

    800 race video here.
    http://www.tacdistancerunners.com/loughborough-international-sunday-21st-may-2017.html
    Looks like he was about a second back at the bell. 53.10
    Maybe he can run a 49 open 400!

  2. Curt Morgan - May 23, 2017

    “…aw you’ll never believe it anyhow…”

    Classic Ken Stone headline!

  3. Matt B. - May 23, 2017

    His first lap split would have placed him 7th in the M45 400m final- Perth and 4th fastest qualifier in the semi’s.

  4. Brian Owen - May 30, 2017

    Tony is on fire this year, I await his World Record form so that we can get this ratified.

    This has been accepted as a British Record.

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