Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres

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Men's 5000 metres
at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Harald Norpoth, Bob Schul, Bill Dellinger 1964.jpg
Harald Norpoth, Bob Schul and Bill Dellinger on the podium
Venue Olympic Stadium
Dates16–18 October 1964
Competitors54 from 35 nations
Winning time13:48.8
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Bob Schul Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Harald Norpoth Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany
Bronze medal icon.svg Bill Dellinger Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  1960
1968  

The men's 5000 metres was the second-longest of the seven men's track races in the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 16 October and 18 October 1964. 54 athletes from 35 nations entered, with 6 not starting the first round. The first round was held on 16 October and the final on 18 October. [1]

The world record holder Vladimir Kuts had retired five years earlier. Defending champion Murray Halberg didn't make the final. Halberg and Pyotr Bolotnikov had dominated the event the previous four years but neither was in the final. The top runner of the year was Bob Schul from the Compton Invitational. This was Kip Keino's first Olympic final, but he would gain fame four years later.

In the slow, strategic race held in a light rain on a muddy dirt track Michel Jazy was more of a 1500 meter runner and expected to be ready for a fast finish. He kept himself in the lead or close to the lead throughout. Schul found himself on the curb boxed in by a loping Keino who seemed to be marking the field on the outside of the pack that also included future world record holder Ron Clarke. With 600 metres to go Bill Dellinger made the first move coming around the entire pack and into the lead. At age 30, old for an amateur athlete in this era, Dellinger came out of retirement to make one last attempt after failing to make the Olympic final the previous two Olympiads. Dellinger's move was marked by Jazy as the pace quickened. Nikolay Dutov came around the entire pack to challenge Jazy and Dellinger. Shortly after the bell, Jazy decided to take off, jumping to the lead with Harald Norpoth coming from mid pack to become his closest pursuer 5 metres back as the field stretched out. A one speed runner, Clarke had no answer for the speedsters. With 300 to go, Schul came from fifth place to start picking off runners to get to Norpoth with 200 to go. Through the turn he passed Norpoth with Jazy constantly looking over his shoulder to check his pursuer. Jazy still had a two metres lead as they reached the final straight. But that lead disappeared rapidly as Schul sprinted by to take the gold medal. Jazy now watched Norpoth as he slowly edged by just before the finish. Given all he could, Jazy tried to maintain and glide across the finish line, but Dellinger, in full sprint, caught Jazy at the line to take the bronze medal. It took officials a half an hour to decide the bronze medalist. [2]

Schul's victory was the first and only American victory in the event. His was only the second medal in the history of the event; Dellinger's bronze became the third. It would be 52 years before USA would register another medal in the 5000, when Kenyan born Paul Chelimo took silver in 2016.

Results

First round

The top three runners in each of the 4 heats advanced.

First round, heat 1

PlaceAthleteNationTime
1 Michel Jazy Flag of France.svg  France 13:55.4
2 Bill Baillie Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 13:55.4
3 Stepan Baidiuk Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 14:00.2
4 Andrei Barabas Flag of Romania (1952-1965).svg  Romania 14:00.2
5 Anthony Cook Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 14:02.4
6 John Bryan Herring Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 14:07.2
7 Muharrem Dalkilic Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 14:12.0
8 Lutz Philipp Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 14:15.2
9 Bruce Kidd Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 14:21.8
10 Janos Pinter Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 14:41.0
11 Jean Randrianjatovo Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar 15:50.4
Pascal Mfyomi Flag of Tanganyika.svg  Tanzania DNS
Gaston Roelants Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium DNS

First round, heat 2

PlaceAthleteNationTime
1 Michael Edwin Wiggs Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 13:51.0
2 Bill Dellinger Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13:52.2
3 Thor Helland Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 13:52.4
4 Lech Boguszewicz Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 13:52.8
5 Kęstutis Orentas Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 13:54.0
6 Eugene Allonsius Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 13:55.0
7 Jean Vaillant Flag of France.svg  France 14:05.8
8 Manfred Letzerich Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 14:06.2
9 Thomas O'Riordan Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 14:08.8
10 Jørgen Dam Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 14:20.4
11 Albert George Thomas Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 14:27.8
12 Fernando Aguilar Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 14:29.2
13 Alvaro Mejia Florez Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 14:41.4
Ebrahim YazdanpanahState Flag of Iran (1964-1980).svg  Iran DNS

First round, heat 3

PlaceAthleteNationTime
1 Mohammed Gammoudi Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia 14:10.2
2 Bob Schul Flag of the United States.svg  United States 14:11.4
3 Harald Norpoth Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 14:11.6
4 Murray Halberg Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 14:12.0
5 Josef Tomáš Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 14:12.6
6 Bengt Najde Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 14:13.4
7 Franc Červan Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 14:16.6
8 Simo Sakari Saloranta Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 14:24.6
9 Lajos Mecser Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 14:35.4
10 Jean Fayolle Flag of France.svg  France 14:44.6
11 Somsak Keaokanta Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 16:08.8
12 Ranatunge Karunananda Flag of Ceylon (1951-1972).svg  Ceylon 16:22.2
13 Nguyen Van Ly Flag of South Vietnam.svg  Vietnam 17:28.0

First round, heat 4

PlaceAthleteNationTime
1 Ron Clarke Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 13:48.4
2 Kipchoge Keino Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 13:49.6
3 Nikolay Dutov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 13:50.6
4 Francisco Aritmendi Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 14:05.0
5 Sven-Olov Larsson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 14:10.2
6 Satsuo Iwashita Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 14:18.4
7 Derek Graham Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 14:21.6
8 Oscar Moore Flag of the United States.svg  United States 14:24.0
9 Simo Vazic Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 14:33.8
10 Henri Clerckx Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 14:40.0
11 Neville Ian Scott Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 15:01.0
Ben Assou El Ghazi Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco DNS
Manuel Oliveira Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal DNS
Mamo Wolde Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia DNS

Final

PlaceAthleteNationTime1000200030004000
1 Bob Schul Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13:48.82:51.45:40.08:25.011:16.2
2 Harald Norpoth Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 13:49.62:51.05:39.88:22.811:15.8
3 Bill Dellinger Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13:49.82:51.85:40.68:25.811:16.4
4 Michel Jazy Flag of France.svg  France 13:49.82:50.45:39.68:22.411:15.6
5 Kipchoge Keino Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 13:50.42:50.85:40.48:25.611:16.0
6 Bill Baillie Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 13:51.02:50.65:39.88:24.211:16.0
7 Nikolay Dutov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 13:53.82:51.65:40.48:23.211:15.8
8 Thor Helland Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 13:57.02:51.65:40.28:26.011:16.6
9 Ron Clarke Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 13:58.02:50.25:39.48:22.211:15.8
10 Stepan Baidiuk Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 14:11.22:51.05:40.08:25.611:19.2
11 Michael Edwin Wiggs Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 14:20.82:52.85:40.88:28.611:28.6
Mohammed Gammoudi Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia Did not start-

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Games: Men's 5000 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  2. Robinson, Roger (24 November 2014). "America's Only 5,000m Gold Medalist". Runner's World. Retrieved 27 December 2018.