John Regis on the podium at the 1987 World Championships (© Getty Images)
Even now, if John Regis takes a glimpse at the medal which he has so generously chosen to donate to the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA), the former British sprinter could be excused for thinking that the bronze was actually gold.
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For the first 195m of the gripping men’s 200m final at the 1987 World Athletics Championships in Rome, the 20-year-old Londoner looked as though he was going to emerge victorious from his senior debut on the global track and field stage.
Despite the constraints of lane two, Regis powered his way into the lead as he entered the home straight and kept himself in front as the finish line approached.
What happened in the final five metres was a blur that flummoxed the three athletes who seemed to flash across the line together and, also, those watching this gladiatorial sprint battle in the Roman setting of the Stadio Olimpico in its roofless, Coliseum-like state.
The one thing that was clear in the immediate aftermath was that the unheralded Frenchman Gilles Queneherve, in lane six, and Calvin Smith, the defending champion from the USA, out in lane eight, had both closed on Regis with a medal-winning flourish.
What was not certain was whether Regis or either of his rivals had finished in the gold medal position.
Down on the track, Regis instinctively raised an arm in triumph after crossing the line. Then Queneherve did so. Smith, after initially shaking his head in doubt, subsequently followed suit.
The photo finish subsequently resolved the clouded issue.
The featherweight Smith had finished the fastest, retaining his title in 20.16. Queneherve was given the same time in second place. Regis took the bronze in 20.18.
'Reminiscent of Moscow'
The television replay showed that in his desperation to cling on to the lead, the British sprinter timed his dip too soon. He lost further momentum before the line by turning his head to the side, clearly sensing danger.
“For a fleeting moment, I thought I had won when I crossed the line,” Regis admitted, “but when I saw the replay on the giant screen I knew I had the bronze medal.”
Regis had the further compensation of the British record, his 20.18 eclipsing the 20.21 Allan Wells recorded in being pipped by the Italian Pietro Mennea in the 1980 Olympic final.
“John was reminiscent of me in Moscow,” said Wells, who watched the race from the stands. “He had to expend so much energy around the bend to get himself into that position hitting the straight.”
The 35-year-old Wells had to scratch from the 200m because of injury. Regis himself had missed eight weeks of training after rupturing ankle ligaments while playing badminton, paying tribute to his coach, John Isaacs, for getting him into a potential world title winning position.
That the stealthy Smith managed to snatch pole position when it mattered most was no great surprise.
The 26-year-old arrived in Rome with regal sprinting pedigree: officially the fastest man in history, having removed Jim Hines’ iconic 9.95 100m from the world record with his 9.93 clocking in Colorado Springs in 1983, the year that he won 200m gold and 100m silver at the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki.
Like Regis, Queneherve was a novice in the global sprint game. A racing cyclist for much of his youth, the 21-year-old Parisian finished shy of the podium at the European U20 Championships in Cottbus, placing fourth in the 200m and fifth in a 100m final in which Regis landed the bronze medal.
Seventh months before their dramatic battle in the Italian capital, the young Frenchman had also been denied a bronze by the Briton at the 1987 European Indoor Championships in Lievin, Regis finishing third in 20.54 and Queneherve fourth in 20.83.
Not that the European young guns of the 200m enjoyed an enduring rivalry. Queneherve placed sixth in the Olympic 200m final in Seoul the following year and teamed up with Max Moriniere, Daniel Sangouma and Bruno Marie-Rose to claim bronze for France in the 4x100m.
His career tailed off thereafter, although the 20.18 he ran in Rome in 1987 stood as a French record until Christophe Lemaitre crashed through the 20-second barrier with the 19.80 that earned him world bronze in Daegu in 2011.
Photographic reminder
Regis improved the British record on five further occasions, culminating with a 19.87 run in Sestriere in 1994, which stood intact until Zharnel Hughes clocked 19.73 at the London Diamond League meeting in 2023.
For several years, Regis hung a photograph of the dramatic denouement in Rome on the wall of his study, as motivational fodder for the future.
He did go one better in Stuttgart in 1993. Aged 26, Regis led the world 200m final halfway down the home straight after blasting through the first 150m in 14.93, the fastest ever electrical clocking for that distance at the time.
Then the déjà vu caught up with him – in the form of Frankie Fredericks. The Nambian flew past to snatch the title in an African record of 19.85.
This time Regis was a well-beaten second, in 19.94, with Carl Lewis third in 19.99.
Budapest and Tokyo global golds
In the individual arena, the muscular Briton did claim a global gold medal, winning the world indoor 200m final ahead of teammate Ade Mafe in Budapest in 1989.
He also emerged victorious from a thrilling tussle with compatriot Linford Christie in the European outdoor 200m final in Split in 1990, one of four medals he plundered in the Croatian capital. One of those was a gold from the 4x400m.
Regis’s range as a world class sprint talent comfortably extended to the quarter mile. Four years after the disappointment of the 200m finish in Rome, he memorably won a world outdoor gold medal, registering a 44.22 split as the vital third leg runner in the British 4x400m team that famously toppled the USA.
'A bit more subtlety'
It might all have been different, though.
As a teenager with speed to burn, Regis wanted to be a footballer – like his famous uncle, Cyrille Regis, the England centre forward.
John had the chance of a professional career when he was given a trial with Newcastle United. He spent a week training alongside Kevin Keegan, the two-time European Footballer of the Year, but was not invited to sign a contract.
“I didn’t do too badly,” he recalled, “but I was a charging right winger and they were looking for someone with a bit more subtlety.”
The MOWA Collection
Regis’s bronze will permanently join the MOWA’s online 3D platform in December as part of the museum’s annual induction of new artefacts: Enter the 3D MOWA platform
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics Heritage
