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

Men's 10,000 metres
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany
Date31 August 1972
Competitors51 from 33 nations
Medalists
 Lasse Virén  Finland
 Emiel Puttemans  Belgium
 Miruts Yifter  Ethiopia
Official video highlights
Athletics at the
1972 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m   men   women
200 m men women
400 m men women
800 m men women
1500 m men women
5000 m men
10,000 m men
100 m hurdles women
110 m hurdles men
400 m hurdles men
3000 m
steeplechase		 men
4×100 m relay men women
4×400 m relay men women
Road events
Marathon men
20 km walk men
50 km walk men
Field events
Long jump men women
Triple jump men
High jump men women
Pole vault men
Shot put men women
Discus throw men women
Javelin throw men women
Hammer throw men
Combined events
Pentathlon women
Decathlon men

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 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

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1 Emiel Puttemans Belgium 27:53.28 OR
2 Dave Bedford Great Britain 27:53.64
3 Javier Álvarez Spain 28:08.58
4 Abdel Kader Zaddem Tunisia 28:14.70
5 Josef Jánský Czechoslovakia 28:23.15
6 Anatoly Badrankov Soviet Union 28:35.84
7 Noël Tijou France 28:36.08
8 Werner Dössegger Switzerland 28:36.4
9 Tadesse Wolde-Medhin Ethiopia 28:45.4
10 Akio Usami Japan 29:24.8
11 Jeff Galloway United States 29:35.0
12 Naftali Temu Kenya 30:19.6
13 Esaie Fongang Cameroon 31:32.6
14 P.C. Suppiah Singapore 31:59.2
15 Crispin Quispe Bolivia 32:31.8
16 Giuseppe Cindolo Italy 33:03.4
– Günter Mielke West Germany DNF
– Usaia Sotutu Fiji DNF

Heat two

Rank Name Nationality Time
1 Mohammed Gammoudi Tunisia 27:54.69
2 Mariano Haro Spain 27:55.89
3 Frank Shorter United States 27:58.23
4 Lasse Virén Finland 28:04.41
5 Paul Mose Kenya 28:18.74
6 Rashid Sharafetdinov Soviet Union 28:24.64
7 Wohib Masresha Ethiopia 28:28.2
8 Pedro Miranda Mexico 28:35.8
9 Karel Lismont Belgium 28:41.8
10 Neil Cusack Ireland 28:45.8
11 Dave Holt Great Britain 28:46.8
12 Keisuke Sawaki Japan 29:29.0
13 Rafael Pérez Costa Rica 29:36.6
14 Julio Quevedo Guatemala 30:08.4
15 Abdel Hamid Khamis Egypt 30:19.2
16 Lucien Rosa Ceylon 30:20.2
– Richard Mabuza Swaziland DNF
– Abdi Gulet Somalia DNS
– Per Halle Norway DNS

Heat three

Rank Name Nationality Time
1 Miruts Yifter Ethiopia 28:18.11
2 Willy Polleunis Belgium 28:19.71
3 Pavlo Andreiev Soviet Union 28:20.97
4 Dane Korica Yugoslavia 28:22.24
5 Juan Martínez Mexico 28:23.14
6 Lachie Stewart Great Britain 28:31.33
7 Arne Risa Norway 28:31.74
8 Jon Anderson United States 28:34.2
9 Carlos Lopes Portugal 28:53.6
10 Albrecht Moser Switzerland 29:05.8
11 Richard Juma Kenya 29:13.0
12 Domingo Tibaduiza Colombia 29:24.0
13 Shaq Musa Medani Sudan 29:32.8
14 Manfred Letzerich West Germany 29:37.8
15 Hikmet Şen Turkey 29:51.8
16 Anilus Joseph Haiti DNF
17 Gavin Thorley New Zealand DNF
18 Juha Väätäinen Finland DNS
19 Edmundo Warnke Chile DNS

Final

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1st Lasse Virén Finland 27:38.35 WR
2nd Emiel Puttemans Belgium 27:39.35
3rd Miruts Yifter Ethiopia 27:40.96
4 Mariano Haro Spain 27:48.14
5 Frank Shorter United States 27:51.32
6 Dave Bedford Great Britain 28:05.44
7 Dane Korica Yugoslavia 28:15.18
8 Abdel Kader Zaddem Tunisia 28:18.17
9 Josef Jánský Czechoslovakia 28:23.59
10 Juan Martínez Mexico 28:44.08
11 Pavlo Andreiev Soviet Union 28:46.27
12 Javier Álvarez Spain 28:56.38
13 Paul Mose Kenya 29:02.87
14 Willy Polleunis Belgium 29:10.15
15 Mohammed Gammoudi Tunisia DNF

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Athletics at the 1972 München Summer Games: Men's 10,000 metres". Sports-reference.com. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Hendersen, John (7 October 2001). "The 10 greatest comebacks of all time". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  3. ↑ Tanser, Toby (September 2004). "Last of the Nordic Gods: Lasse Viren's training and triumphs". Running Times. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
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