Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres

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Men's 5000 metres
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Venue Olympic Stadium
DatesSeptember 10, 1972
Competitors61 from 35 nations
Winning time13:26.4 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Lasse Virén
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
Silver medal icon.svg Mohamed Gammoudi
Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia
Bronze medal icon.svg Ian Stewart
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
  1968
1976  

The Men's 5000 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany took place on 7 and 10 September 1972. [1]

Having won the 10,000 metres a week earlier, Lasse Virén controlled the pace through the first 2000 metres in 5:32.61. David Bedford, tired of the slow pace, passing Viren and leading a crowd to go around to a faster pace. As the pace accelerated, Javier Álvarez came from the rear around the field to take the point for the next kilometre. At 3200 metres, Nikolay Sviridov challenged for the lead.

Steve Prefontaine [2] took the lead at 3400 metres. Over the next lap, Viren came from sixth place in line to mark Prefontaine. Viren was in turn marked by Emiel Puttemans. A five-man breakaway formed. With 850 metres to go, Viren passed Prefontaine. Down the back stretch, Prefontaine strained back into the lead. 50 metres before the bell, Viren took the lead again, with Mohammed Gammoudi breaking off the remaining group to mark the leaders.

Down the final backstretch, Gammoudi eased around Viren while Prefontaine hit almost a full sprint to get on Gammoudi's shoulder. With 200 to go, Prefontaine relaxed and Viren moved ahead of him. Prefontaine surged again to keep pace. In the middle of the final turn, Virén changed gears into his full sprint, taking the lead. Gammoudi couldn't keep pace and began to watch Prefontaine while trying to hold on to the silver medal. Mid-straightaway all three checked the position of their rivals as Prefontaine took one more surge after Gammoudi. As it was quickly clear he couldn't make enough progress, Prefontaine strained. Ian Stewart came from the chasing group in full sprint gaining rapidly. As Stewart caught him from behind, Prefontaine fell apart, struggling the final steps. [3] [4]

Virén successfully defended both titles in 1976.

Results

Heats

Qualification rule: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) advance to the Final.

RankHeatNameNationalityTimeNotes
12 Emiel Puttemans Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 13:31.8Q
22 Steve Prefontaine Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13:32.6Q
34 Juha Väätäinen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 13:32.8Q
44 Ian Stewart Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 13:33.0Q
52 Harald Norpoth Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 13:33.4q
64 Mariano Haro Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 13:35.4q
72 Javier Álvarez Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 13:36.6q
83 Ian McCafferty Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 13:38.2Q
93 Frank Eisenberg Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 13:38.4Q
95 Lasse Virén Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 13:38.4Q
95 Nikolay Sviridov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 13:38.4Q
123 Per Halle Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 13:38.6q
135 Josef Jánský Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 13:39.8
143 Dušan Moravčík Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 13:40.4
155 George Young Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13:41.2
163 Paul Mose Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 13:41.4
173 Tapio Kantanen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 13:42.0
183 Tony Benson Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 13:42.8
195 Edmundo Warnke Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 13:43.6
202 Grant McLaren Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 13:43.8
215 Bob Finlay Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 13:44.0
225 Keisuke Sawaki Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 13:44.8
233 Boualem Rahoui Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 13:45.0
242 Pedro Miranda Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 13:45.2
254 Tolossa Kotu Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 13:46.2
265 Bronisław Malinowski Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 13:48.2
271 Mohamed Gammoudi Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia 13:49.8Q
281 David Bedford Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 13:49.8Q
293 Tekle Fitinsa Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 13:50.4
304 Willy Polleunis Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 13:52.6
313 Dick Tayler Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 13:56.2
321 Ben Jipcho Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 13:56.8
331 Anders Gärderud Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 13:57.2
344 Nikolay Puklakov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 13:57.6
351 Michael Keogh Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 13:57.8
361 René Goris Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 13:57.8
374 Mario Pérez Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 13:58.2
383 Edward Sequeira Flag of India.svg  India 14:01.4
391 Arne Risa Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 14:01.6
405 Jürgen May Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 14:06.6
414 Leonard Hilton Flag of the United States.svg  United States 14:07.2
422 Vladimir Afonin Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 14:08.6
435 Gavin Thorley Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 14:11.6
441 Takaharu Koyama Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 14:12.6
454 Wolfgang Riesinger Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 14:15.2
464 Knut Børø Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 14:15.8
474 Jørn Lauenbourg Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 14:18.8
485 Hikmet Şen Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 14:26.0
491 Carlos Lopes Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 14:29.6
502 Raymond Zembri Flag of France.svg  France 14:34.4
513 John Hartnett Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 14:34.6
522 Dick Quax Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 14:35.2
534 Evans Mogaka Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 14:37.2
544 Ngwila Musonda Flag of Zambia (1964-1996).svg  Zambia 14:37.4
552 Gert Kærlin Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 14:39.2
565 Fritz Rüegsegger Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 14:54.4
571 Nji Esau Ade Flag of Cameroon (1961-1975).svg  Cameroon 15:19.6
585 Usaia Sotutu Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 15:24.2
591 P. C. Suppiah [5] Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 15:36.6
603 Abdullah Al-Mabrouk Flag of Saudi Arabia (1938-1973).svg  Saudi Arabia 15:51.0
612 Carlos Cuque Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 15:53.4
1 Jadour Haddou Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco DNS
1 Siatka Badji Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal DNS
1 Dane Korica Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia DNS
2 Mikhail Jelev Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Bulgaria DNS
2 Rafael Ángel Pérez Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica DNS
2 Kerry O'Brian Flag of Australia.svg  Australia DNS
3 Jos Hermens Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands DNS
4 Ardelham Khamis Flag of Egypt (1972-1984).svg  Egypt DNS
5 Miruts Yifter Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia DNS
5 Crispin Quispe Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia DNS

Final

RankNameNationalityTime
Gold medal icon.svg Lasse Virén Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 13:26.4
Silver medal icon.svg Mohamed Gammoudi Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia 13:27.4
Bronze medal icon.svg Ian Stewart Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 13:27.6
4 Steve Prefontaine Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13:28.4
5 Emiel Puttemans Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 13:30.8
6 Harald Norpoth Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 13:32.6
7 Per Halle Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 13:34.4
8 Nikolay Sviridov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 13:39.4
9 Frank Eisenberg Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 13:40.8
10 Javier Álvarez Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 13:41.8
11 Ian McCafferty Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 13:43.2
12 David Bedford Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 13:43.2
13 Juha Väätäinen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 13:53.8
Mariano Haro Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain DNS

Sources

References

  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Athletics at the 1972 Munich Games: Men's 5000 metres". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  2. Newnham, Blaine (September 10, 1972). "It's Pre versus the Europeans". Eugene Register-Guard. p. 1C.
  3. Newnham, Blaine (September 11, 1972). "Pre's warning for 1976: 'He'd better watch out'". Eugene Register-Guard. p. 1B.
  4. Newnham, Blaine (June 1, 1975). "Only first". Eugene Register-Guard. p. 1B.
  5. "Official Olympic Reports: 1972 Munich Volume 3" (PDF). la84foundation.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007.