1978 European Athletics Championships – Men's 5000 metres

Events at the
1978 European
Athletics Championships
Track events
100 m   men   women
200 m men women
400 m men women
800 m men women
1500 m men women
3000 m women
5000 m men
10,000 m men
100 m hurdles women
110 m hurdles men
400 m hurdles men women
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
High jump men women
Pole vault men
Long jump men women
Triple jump men
Shot put men women
Discus throw men women
Hammer throw men
Javelin throw men women
Combined events
Pentathlon women
Decathlon men

The men's 5000 metres at the 1978 European Athletics Championships was held in Praha, then Czechoslovakia, at Stadion Evžena Rošického on 31 August and 2 September 1978.[1]

Medalists

Gold Venanzio Ortis
 Italy
Silver Markus Ryffel
  Switzerland
Silver Aleksandr Fedotkin
 Soviet Union

Results

Final

2 September Most of this final was run at a slow and tactical pace. 1,000 metres was passed approximately in 2:44, while 2,000 metres took around 5:28. Finland's Martti Vainio, who had stunned many long-distance running fans on the opening day by winning the 10,000-metre race, shared the lead with West Germany's Frank Zimmermann. Only Portugal's Fernando Mamede, a talented but notably nervous runner, started to lose contact at this stage. Before 3,000 metres, Britain's Nick Rose surged into the lead, dropping West Germany's Christoph Herle, and reaching 3,000 metres in 8:09.5. During the next kilometre, despite the rather slow pace, also West Germany's Karl Fleschen and Frank Zimmermann, East Germany's Jörg Peter, Belgium's Léon Schots, the Soviet Union's Boris Kuznetsov, and his team mate Enn Sellik dropped from the lead group. Vainio was leading at 4,000 metres in 10:53.3. He was followed by Rose, Romania's Ilie Floroiu, Italy's Venanzio Ortis, the Soviet Union's Aleksandr Fyodotkin, Switzerland's Markus Ryffel, and Ireland's John Treacy. Sellik tried to catch the leading group, but could not. At 4,600 metres, reached in about 12:30-12:31, the seven-runner leading group was still tightly together. Around 4,700 metres, Floroiu suddenly rushed past Vainio who could, however, still increase his pace. Rose started to drop from the lead group, and for a few crucial seconds, Treacy lingered behind him. Vainio managed to keep his lead until the second half of the final bend, when Ryffel, Ortis, and Fyodotkin sprinted past him. During the first half of the home straight, also Floroiu and Treacy managed to pass Vainio. While Ortis narrowly but decisively passed Ryffel and Fyodotkin, Treacy kicked past Floroiu, and kept closing in on the three leading runners. He would have needed, however, at least 10 to 20 metres more to catch them. Despite his narrow victory, Ortis raised his arms in triumph, while Fyodotkin and Ryffel crossed the finish line so tied that even the finish-line camera could not separate them. This was a very tight finish for a major championship final, with the first four runners crossing the line in 0.3 seconds, the first five runners in 0.8 seconds, and the first six runners in 1.2 seconds. (See Tapio Pekola et al. (eds.), EM-Praha 1978 (European Championships in Prague 1978), Kaarina, Finland: Juoksija-lehti (Runner Magazine), 1978; Our Sports' Faces (Urheilumme kasvot), Finland, c. 1978; Steven Mills - YouTube - Men's 5000m final-1978 European Championships.)

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1st, gold medalist(s) Venanzio Ortis  Italy 13:28.52
2nd, silver medalist(s) Markus Ryffel   Switzerland 13:28.60
2nd, silver medalist(s) Aleksandr Fedotkin  Soviet Union 13:28.60
4 John Treacy  Ireland 13:28.83
5 Ilie Floroiu  Romania 13:29.27
6 Martti Vainio  Finland 13:29.67
7 Nick Rose  United Kingdom 13:32.8
8 Enn Sellik  Soviet Union 13:35.8
9 Boris Kuznetsov  Soviet Union 13:36.5
10 Frank Zimmermann  West Germany 13:39.1
11 Léon Schots  Belgium 13:47.4
12 Jörg Peter  East Germany 13:48.6
13 Karl Fleschen  West Germany 13:50.3
14 Christoph Herle  West Germany 13:55.4
15 Fernando Mamede  Portugal 13:58.2

Heats

31 August

Heat 1

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1 Frank Zimmermann  West Germany 13:32.42 Q
2 Martti Vainio  Finland 13:33.6 Q
3 Léon Schots  Belgium 13:34.1 Q
4 Jörg Peter  East Germany 13:34.3 Q
5 Boris Kuznetsov  Soviet Union 13:34.8 q
6 Brendan Foster  United Kingdom 13:38.3
7 Knut Kvalheim  Norway 13:43.6
8 Radhouane Bouster  France 14:09.3
9 John Charvetto  Gibraltar 14:18.4 NR
10 Karel Gaba  Czechoslovakia DNF

Heat 2

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1 Karl Fleschen  West Germany 13:34.45 Q
2 Fernando Mamede  Portugal 13:34.8 Q
3 Nick Rose  United Kingdom 13:35.7 Q
4 Enn Sellik  Soviet Union 13:36.2 Q
5 Gerard Tebroke  Netherlands 13:37.0
6 Fernando Cerrada  Spain 13:40.4
7 Pierre Levisse  France 13:44.1
8 Stanislav Tábor  Czechoslovakia 13:45.0
9 Dietmar Millonig  Austria 13:50.4
10 Necdet Ayaz  Turkey 13:55.7
11 Justin Gloden  Luxembourg DNF

Heat 3

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1 Aleksandr Fedotkin  Soviet Union 13:24.10 Q
2 Markus Ryffel   Switzerland 13:24.71 Q
3 Venanzio Ortis  Italy 13:26.67 Q
4 John Treacy  Ireland 13:28.85 Q
5 Christoph Herle  West Germany 13:30.59 q
6 Ilie Floroiu  Romania 13:32.5 q
7 Mike McLeod  United Kingdom 13:42.9
8 Jerzy Kowol  Poland 13:49.1
9 Aniceto Simões  Portugal 13:52.1
10 Willy Polleunis  Belgium 14:24.5
11 Klaas Lok  Netherlands DNF

Participation

According to an unofficial count, 32 athletes from 21 countries participated in the event.

References

  1. ↑ European Athletics Championships Zürich 2014 - STATISTICS HANDBOOK (PDF), European Athletics Association, pp. 427–435, retrieved 13 August 2014
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.