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The Perfect Distance is less a biography, as both Sebastian Coes and Steve Ovetts stories have been told in previous books, and more the story of a sport in flux. As the two biggest names in track, Coe and Ovett were at the forefront of the changes track and field was undergoing in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The sport was finally shedding its amateur roots, as athletes began to earn increasingly large sums of money. With the flow of money came an increased demand for spectacular performances, which in turn led to what Butcher deems one of the negative legacies that these two men left behind.
To protect their records, Coe and Ovett rarely raced head to headthough to be fair, this only increased the anticipation for their 1980 and 1984 Olympic showdowns. Both men frequently used rabbits in their hunt to further lower the world recordsa practice that continues to thrive today, at the expense of exciting head-to-head competition.
With the professionalization of the sport came new demands. Athletes suddenly needed to invite the likes of agents, promoters and doctors into their lives. Butcher introduces us to these figures as well, completing the picture of the new world of track and field.
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