Harald Hudak (born 28 January 1957 in Vaihingen an der Enz) is a retired (West) German middle-distance runner who specialized in 1500 metres.
He was one of the runners that set a world record of 14:38.8 minutes in the 4x1500 metres relay in 1977, together with Thomas Wessinghage, Michael Lederer, and Karl Fleschen. He ran 3:40.2 minutes on the second leg.[ citation needed ]
He finished sixth in 1500 m at the 1979 European Indoor Championships. In 1980, Hudak temporarily became the third-fastest 1500 m runner of all time when he set a personal best of 3:31.96 minutes at a meeting in Koblenz where Steve Ovett set a new world record and Thomas Wessinghage set a new German record. 3:31.96 remained his career best time. In Germany only Thomas Wessinghage has run faster. [1] However, Hudak could not participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow due to the West German boycott.
Hudak competed for the sports club Bayer 04 Leverkusen during his active career.
Sir John George Walker, is a former middle-distance runner from New Zealand who won the gold medal in the men's 1500 m event at the 1976 Olympics. He was also the first person to run the mile in under 3:50. In more recent years, Walker has been active in local government, as an Auckland Councillor and representing the Manurewa-Papakura ward.
Stephen Michael James Ovett, is a retired British track athlete. A middle-distance runner, he was the gold medalist in the 800 metres at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, and set 5 world records for 1500 metres and the mile run and a world record at two miles. He won 45 consecutive 1500 and mile races from 1977 to 1980.
Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder of the outdoor 1500 metres, mile, and 2000 metres events. He also held indoor world records for the mile and 1500 metres until 2019, and is the only man since Paavo Nurmi to earn a gold medal in both the 1500 metres and 5000 metres at the same Olympic Games. El Guerrouj is widely regarded as the greatest middle-distance runner in history and is also viewed as one of the greatest athletes of all time.
Noureddine Morceli is a retired Algerian middle-distance runner. He was the winner of the 1500 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics and won three straight gold medals at that distance at the World Championships in Athletics. He set world records in the 1500 m, mile run and the 3000 metres.
David Robert Moorcroft is a former middle-distance and long-distance runner from England, and former world record holder for 5,000 metres. His athletic career spanned the late-1970s and 1980s. He subsequently served as the Chief Executive of UK Athletics from 1997 to 2007. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1983 and promoted to an Officer (OBE) in 1999, in both cases for services to athletics. In March 2023, he was appointed a Deputy lieutenant of the West Midlands.
Ellen Tittel is a retired West German middle-distance runner who specialized in the 1500 m event. She won the European indoor title in 1973, placing third in 1975, and had another third-place finish at the 1971 European Outdoor Championships. She reached the 1500 m finals at the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics, but abandoned the 1972 race due to stomach cramps. In 1971 she helped to set a new world record in the 4 × 800 m relay.
Craig Mottram is a former Australian long and middle-distance runner who specialised in the 5000 meter event.
Thomas Wessinghage is a German former middle- and long-distance runner who won the 1982 European Championships' final over 5000 metres beating the British world-record holder David Moorcroft. Because he was already thirty at the time, and had been an international-level runner for a decade, this victory was a long-awaited one for him. He admitted that he decided to run the 5,000 metres instead of the 1,500 metres, because he lost to Ovett and Coe so often in the shorter distance. The fairly slow pace of the 1982 European Athletics Championships 5,000-metre final favoured Wessinghage, because he was in top form - having set a European record at 2,000 metres shortly before the Championships - and because he was the fastest 1,500-metre runner in the final, having run that distance in 3 minutes 31.6 seconds in 1980. Shortly after he started his final sprint with over 250 metres to go, Wessinghage moved into a decisive lead, stretching it into five metres by 4,800 metres and almost doubling it by 4,900 metres.
Jens-Peter Herold is a retired German middle-distance runner who participated in several international championships in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Hauke Fuhlbrügge is a German former middle-distance runner.
Jürgen Straub is a former East German middle distance runner who specialized in the 1500 metres.
Rüdiger Stenzel is a former German middle distance runner who participated in several international championships in the 1990s.
Douglas Padilla is a former middle and long distance runner from the United States, who won the overall Grand Prix 1985 and the World Cup 5000m race in 1985. He finished fifth in the 5000m final at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, and seventh in the 5000m final at the 1984 Summer Olympics. In the 1983 World Championships 5,000-metre final, Padilla was among the favourites, but he succumbed to the radically accelerating pace of top runners, such as Ireland's Eamonn Coghlan, East Germany's Werner Schildhauer and Finland's Martti Vainio, during the last lap. He lost to the winner, Coghlan, by 3.55 seconds, but managed to defeat another unlucky favourite, West Germany's Thomas Wessinghage, by 0.38 seconds. By contrast, the fast 1984 Olympic 5,000-metre final was tough for Padilla already after 3,000 metres, and he painstakingly defeated New Zealand's John Walker who finished eighth. He was ranked number 1 in the world in 1983 for the 3000-meter distance.
Paul-Heinz Wellmann is a former West German middle-distance runner who specialized in the 1500 metres.
Karl Fleschen is a retired West German runner who specialized in the 3000, 5000 and 10,000 metres.
These are the official results of the Men's 5,000 metres event at the 1982 European Championships in Athens, Greece, held at Olympic Stadium "Spiros Louis" on 8 and 11 September 1982.
These are the official results of the men's 5000 metres event at the 1983 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. There were a total of 39 participating athletes, with three qualifying heats, two semi-finals and the final held on Sunday 14 August 1983.
Tamara Aleksandrovna Sorokina is a Russian former Soviet middle-distance runner who competed in both the 800 metres and the 1500 metres. She set personal bests of 1:56.6 minutes and 3:58.89 minutes for the events, respectively.
Vladimir Ponomaryov is a Russian former Soviet middle-distance runner. He represented his country at the 1976 Summer Olympics and was a seven-time Soviet national champion, four times outdoors.
Oliver 'Ollie' Hoare is an Australian middle-distance runner competing primarily in the 1500 metres. He achieved the biggest success of his career to date by winning the 1500 m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in a Games record of 3:30.12.