Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 10,000 metres

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Men's 10,000 metres
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Venue Olympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany
Date3 September 1972
Competitors51 from 33 nations
Winning time27:38.35 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Lasse Virén
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
Silver medal icon.svg Emiel Puttemans
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium
Bronze medal icon.svg Miruts Yifter
Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia
  1968
1976  
Official video highlights TV-icon-2.svg
Official video highlights

The men's 10,000 metres event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich was held on 31 August and 3 September. This event featured a qualifying round for the first time since the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. The favorites in the event included Belgium's Emiel Puttemans, Great Britain's Dave Bedford, and Finland's Lasse Virén. [1] The winning margin was 1.00 second.

The men's 10,000 metres final was notable for Lasse Virén's world record performance. [2] At the start of the race, Bedford led the pace; he maintained a world record pace at the 4000 m mark, and he still led halfway through the race. On the 12th lap, just before the halfway point, Virén and Tunisia's Mohammed Gammoudi, 10,000 m bronze medalist and 5000 m gold medalist in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, tangled into each other and fell onto the track. [1] Both recovered, and while Gammoudi fell out of the race two laps later, Virén caught up to the front and passed Bedford to take the lead at about the 6000 m mark. [2]

With Virén leading for the rest of the race, the lead pack reduced to five competitors with 600 m remaining when he made his charge. [3] He ran the final lap (the last 400 m) in 56.4 seconds; he won the gold medal, beating runner-up Puttemans by 7 m and setting a world record time of 27:38.35. [1] [2] Virén would go on to win the 5000 metres event, where he would set an Olympic record there; he also went on to win both the 10,000 metres and 5000 metres races at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. [2]

The Guardian listed Virén's world record performance as the greatest sport comeback of all time. [2]

Heats

The top four runners in each of the three heats (blue) and the next three fastest (green), advanced to the final round.

Heat one

RankNameNationalityTimeNotes
1 Emiel Puttemans Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 27:53.28OR
2 Dave Bedford Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 27:53.64
3 Javier Álvarez Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 28:08.58
4 Abdel Kader Zaddem Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia 28:14.70
5 Josef Jánský Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 28:23.15
6 Anatoly Badrankov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 28:35.84
7 Noël Tijou Flag of France.svg  France 28:36.08
8 Werner Dössegger Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 28:36.4
9 Tadesse Wolde-Medhin Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 28:45.4
10 Akio Usami Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 29:24.8
11 Jeff Galloway Flag of the United States.svg  United States 29:35.0
12 Naftali Temu Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 30:19.6
13 Esaie Fongang Flag of Cameroon (1961-1975).svg  Cameroon 31:32.6
14 P. C. Suppiah [4] Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 31:59.2
15 Crispin Quispe Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia 32:31.8
16 Giuseppe Cindolo Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 33:03.4
Günter Mielke Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany DNF
Usaia Sotutu Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji DNF

Heat two

RankNameNationalityTime
1 Mohammed Gammoudi Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia 27:54.69
2 Mariano Haro Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 27:55.89
3 Frank Shorter Flag of the United States.svg  United States 27:58.23
4 Lasse Virén Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 28:04.41
5 Paul Mose Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 28:18.74
6 Rashid Sharafetdinov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 28:24.64
7 Wohib Masresha Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 28:28.2
8 Pedro Miranda Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 28:35.8
9 Karel Lismont Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 28:41.8
10 Neil Cusack Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 28:45.8
11 Dave Holt Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 28:46.8
12 Keisuke Sawaki Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 29:29.0
13 Rafael Pérez Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica 29:36.6
14 Julio Quevedo Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 30:08.4
15 Abdel Hamid Khamis Flag of Egypt (1972-1984).svg  Egypt 30:19.2
16 Lucien Rosa Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Ceylon 30:20.2
Richard Mabuza Flag of Swaziland.svg  Swaziland DNF
Abdi GuletFlag of Somalia.svg  Somalia DNS
Per Halle Flag of Norway.svg  Norway DNS

Heat three

RankNameNationalityTime
1 Miruts Yifter Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 28:18.11
2 Willy Polleunis Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 28:19.71
3 Pavlo Andreiev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 28:20.97
4 Dane Korica Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 28:22.24
5 Juan Martínez Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 28:23.14
6 Lachie Stewart Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 28:31.33
7 Arne Risa Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 28:31.74
8 Jon Anderson Flag of the United States.svg  United States 28:34.2
9 Carlos Lopes Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 28:53.6
10 Albrecht Moser Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 29:05.8
11 Richard Juma Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 29:13.0
12 Domingo Tibaduiza Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 29:24.0
13Shaq Musa MedaniFlag of Sudan.svg  Sudan 29:32.8
14 Manfred Letzerich Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 29:37.8
15 Hikmet Şen Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 29:51.8
Anilus Joseph Flag of Haiti (1964-1986).svg  Haiti DNF
Gavin Thorley Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand DNF
Juha Väätäinen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland DNS
Edmundo Warnke Flag of Chile.svg  Chile DNS

Final

RankNameNationalityTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Lasse Virén Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 27:38.35WR
Silver medal icon.svg Emiel Puttemans Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 27:39.35
Bronze medal icon.svg Miruts Yifter Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 27:40.96
4 Mariano Haro Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 27:48.14
5 Frank Shorter Flag of the United States.svg  United States 27:51.32
6 Dave Bedford Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 28:05.44
7 Dane Korica Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 28:15.18
8 Abdel Kader Zaddem Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia 28:18.17
9 Josef Jánský Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 28:23.59
10 Juan Martínez Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 28:44.08
11 Pavlo Andreiev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 28:46.27
12 Javier Álvarez Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 28:56.38
13 Paul Mose Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 29:02.87
14 Willy Polleunis Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 29:10.15
Mohammed Gammoudi Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia DNF

Sources

References

  1. 1 2 3 Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Athletics at the 1972 Munich Games: Men's 10,000 metres". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Hendersen, John (7 October 2001). "The 10 greatest comebacks of all time". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 28 October 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  3. Tanser, Toby (September 2004). "Last of the Nordic Gods: Lasse Viren's training and triumphs". Running Times. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  4. "Official Olympic Reports: 1972 Munich Volume 3" (PDF). la84foundation.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007.