By Brett Davies
At the Olympics in Paris, fans were treated to one of the greatest Olympic Men’s 1500m races ever. It was a race that was billed as a match-up between the reigning Olympic and World Champions (Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Brit Josh Kerr respectively), yet Cole Hocker (USA) crashed the party with a stunning surge over the final 50m to upset the two favourites and smash the Olympic record in the process.
Kerr and Ingebrigtsen have, over recent seasons, developed one of the great middle distance rivalries and there has been a war of words away from the track, with both men taking pot shots at each other in the media. Ingebrigtsen was a marginal favourite. He had run a European record (3.26.78) and though he lost the Pre Classic Mile to Kerr, he had established himself as favourite amongst most experts.
Ingebrigtsen looked as self-assured as ever on the starting line, boasting an 8-2 record over Kerr. With two world records, and multiple global titles, he was already one of the greatest middle distance runners in history.
Being an endurance-based runner without the 800m speed of some of his rivals, Ingebrigtsen, when running mile/1500m races, will almost always take one of two fairly predictable strategies: run hard from the gun, or make a long run for home from about 600m. This, as we’ve seen in Paris and the World Championship finals of Budapest 2023 and Eugene 2022, can leave him vulnerable to kickers, as we’ve seen with the likes of Jake Wightman, Kerr and Hocker having an edge on the Norwegian champion over the final 200m.
This was more-or-less how the race unfolded in Paris. Ingebrigsten took the lead after 100m or so in the final and attempted to run the finish out of his rivals. With splits of 54.82 (400m), 1.51.30 (800m) and 2.47.27 (1200m), Ingebrigtsen had stretched the field, but had yet to shake his biggest opponents (Kerr, Hocker and Hocker’s teammate Yared Nuguse).
With 120m to go, the race looked like a carbon copy of Budapest, as Kerr loomed up on his rival and as they entered the straight, Kerr moved ahead slightly. Ingebrigtsen had drifted a little wide, to the edge of lane 1, perhaps to force Kerr to move wider to pass him. This allowed Hocker an inside run and this was all the American needed. With a phenomenal burst, the ponytailed Hocker surged past Ingebrigtsen and Kerr and stole about half a metre on Kerr and got home for the gold by less than a metre. His gold winning time of 3.27.65 took over half a second off Ingebrigtsen’s Olympic record time from Tokyo in 2021. With Ingebrigtsen feeling the effects of his aggressive front running, he was unable to hang on and began to tie up. Nuguse came past Ingebrigtsen and nearly caught Kerr on the line, almost grabbing the silver and making it a 1-2 for the US. (Kerr 3.27.79, Nuguse 3.27.80). Ingebrigtsen (3.28.24) was relegated to 4th. It was a brave run by Ingebrigtsen, whose hard opening laps in an effort to burn off his rivals set up one of the greatest ever Olympic 1500m finals.
Hocker’s winning time was also, in addition to being an Olympic record, a substantial improvement on the American record and a PB by three seconds. Finally, after an up-and-down few seasons, Hocker fulfilled the potential demonstrated three years earlier as a 20-year-old when he beat 2016 Olympic champion Matt Centrowitz in the US trials. He was a surprise finalist in Tokyo, finishing in 6th and in Paris, he produced one of the biggest upset wins of the Games.
In terms of depth, it’s difficult to top Paris 2024. For the first time in history, three men broke 3.28, six went inside 3.30 and in addition to Hocker’s USA and Olympic records there were another three national records run, with Kerr, Niels Laros (NED – 3.29.54) and Pietro Arese (ITA – 3.30.74) all establishing new national standards for the event. Ingebrigtsen’s 4th place was a minor hiccup in another stellar season, where he won gold in the Olympic 5000m final, smashed Daniel Komen’s 3000m record, won the Diamond League Final and debuted over the half marathon without great success, fading to run 63.13 after a blistering opening 10km. While Kerr had an incredibly successful season, also setting a world record over the indoor 2 mile and running national records in the 1500m and mile and Nuguse also enjoyed a brilliant season. In the first few months of the new year Nuguse has continued on superbly with a world record in the indoor mile, which was smashed a week or so later by Ingebrigtsen, who is in arguably career-best form and continues to dominate world middle distance running.
Here are the first four of eight Olympic 1500m finals that may not top Paris 2024, but were magical nonetheless:
Berlin 1936:
This race included virtually all the top middle distance runners of the day. Brit Jerry Cornes was there, as was reigning champion Luigi Beccali (ITA), world mile record-holder Glenn Cunningham (USA) and Cunningham’s teammates Archie San Romani and Gene Venzke.New Zealander Jack Lovelock was reigning British Empire champion and former mile world record-holder, and he was keen to improve on his seventh in Los Angeles 1932.
The race was a cracker. The pace was on from the start, with the opening lap splits not far off world record tempo. Swede Eric Ny was leading into the third lap and kept the pace honest. He was tracked by Cunningham, with Lovelock shadowing the big American. Lovelock moved up to the Swede with a lap or so to go and Cunningham went with him. With 300m left, Lovelock kicked hard and caught the field napping and Cunningham and Beccali gave chase, but could not make up ground Lovelock won New Zealand’s first athletics gold medal in a world record of 3.47.8, with Cunningham (3.48.4) also inside countryman Bill Bonthron’s old record. Beccali (3.49.2) won bronze.
Lovelock was a major inspiration for countrymen Peter Snell and John Walker, who would emulate Lovelock and capture the Olympic 1500m gold medal (Snell in 1964 and Walker in 1976). The academically brilliant Lovelock was a Rhodes Scholar and trained physician and ultimately moved to New York with his family. Coming home from Manhattan Hospital one day in 1949, he suffered a dizzy spell on a subway platform in Brooklyn, fell onto the tracks and was killed by a train. He was just 39 years old.
Melbourne 1956:
This race featured world mile record-holder John Landy, who was running at home on the hallowed turf of the MCG. There was a huge amount of pressure on the 26 year-old who had become the second man in history to break 4 minutes for the mile (3.57.9) in June of 1954, just weeks after the legendary performance by Roger Bannister at Iffley Road in Oxford (3.59.4). The two men clashed in their epic British Empire Games Final in Vancouver, where Bannister – who retired soon after the race – narrowly triumphed over the Aussie (3.58.8 to 3.59.4).
Landy was a promising athlete who met an eccentric and somewhat enigmatic figure named Percy Cerutty. In his 40s, Cerutty had been a heavy smoker, with a number of health issues. He took up running and very slowly returned to health. After breaking age records for distance events, he began to coach some of Victoria’s most promising young runners from his base at the coastal hamlet of Portsea. Landy developed rapidly under Cerutty, who was a notoriously hard task master and he was revolutionary in his ideas on distance running conditioning, much like his Kiwi counterpart, Arthur Lydiard, who also encountered much resistance from officialdom and much dersion from many in the established world of amateur athletics. Cerutty had drawn inspiration from ancient military philosophy and demanded nothing less than total commitment from his athletes and would push his charges to their absolute limit. He had his athletes complete hard tempo runs, fartlek sessions and repetitions of the local sand dunes and runners would often run to exhaustion, occasionally collapsing from Cerutty’s extraordinarily tough sessions.
Landy improved enough to run a 4.11 mile at 21 and he was selected to run for Australia in Helsinki at the 1952 Olympics, where he was knocked out in the heats. At the Games, Landy met with the legendary Czech gold medallist Emil Zatopek, and Zatopek encouraged him to train harder and increase his mileage. Landy took this advice on board and improved his performance levels in a matter of months. In December 1952, Landy ran 4.02.1, just 0.7 outside Gundar ‘The Wonder’ Haag’s world record. Over the next year-and-a-half, the race for a sub-4 was on in earnest, with Bannister, Landy and American Wes Santee recording very fast times, before Bannister beat everyone to it on 6th May 1954.
After the now legendary Vancouver race, Landy felt he needed a break from athletics. The following year, he took a teaching job in rural Mansfield and soon felt the urge to return to his passion. Within weeks, Landy began training again to return to fitness slowly and he had his eye on the Melbourne Olympics where he was determined to win gold. Early in 1956, Landy ran a series of sub 4 minute miles and famously won the national mile title at Olympic Park, where he chased down the field with a spectacular last lap, after stopping with 500 yards left to help 19 year-old Ron Clarke to his feet after he tripped and fell coming into the final lap. Landy’s miraculous win and his admirable selflessness cemented Landy’s reputation amongst Aussie sports fans. Not only was he an exceptional talent and determined competitor, but a remarkable sportsman as well. This iconic moment in the sport has since been immortalised with a statue in Olympic Park.
With the Olympics approaching, Landy was asked to go on a tour of the US to help Australia’s Olympic Committee promote the Games. Took the opportunity to run in several races in America as part of his Olympic preparation. He performed well, though he developed some achilles problems which forced him to curtail his training prior to the Games. Landy was feeling the pressure of a hometown Games. After Clarke lit the flame at the MCG, Landy was tasked with reading the Athlete’s Oath at the Opening Ceremony. He was handed the wrong script to read. He managed to bluff his way through convincingly. Landy felt the pressure of expectation on his shoulders, though he went into the final, looking very good in his heat. He was in good spirits, but he knew he was not quite at his best.
Irishman Ron Delany was a few years younger than Landy and had excelled as a student of Villanova University in the US, where he had made a name for himself on the NCAA, but was 21 and still developing, though he had broken 4 minutes for the mile earlier in the year so he was an outside threat. He was also very solid over 880yards, so his speed would be a factor over the final lap.He looked good in his heat, cruising home in third.
Before the Games, the Hungarian trio of Istvan Rosavoglyi, Lazlo Tabori and Sandor Iharos had been making their mark internationally with incredible performances from 1000m to 10,000m. Rosavolgyi was a big favourite, having broken several world records and he was the current world record holder (3.40.6). Czechoslovak-born Tabori had equalled countryman Sanor Iharos’ record over 1500m and was the third man (after Bannister and Landy) to have broken 4 minutes for the mile. Iharos, in addition to his 1500m record, had also broken world records for the 3000m, 2 miles, 5000m and the 10,000m. Rosavoglyi, Tabori and Iharos were also part of the Hungarian 4 x 1500m relay team which had smashed the world record in 1953 and 1954.
Though they were big favourites for the Games in Melbourne, the Soviet Union’s invasion of Hungary in 1956 was to have a profound impact on this superstar trio. Iharos left Hungary and didn’t even show up at the Games, citing an injury. A disillusioned Rosavoglyi didn’t even make the final and Tabori was the only one of the three masterful Magyar milers to make the final.
Stanislav Jungwirth, the Czech with German background, had broken the world 1000m record after a disappointing performance at the Helsinki Games in 1952 and he won a bronze at the European Championships in 1954 behind Bannister. He was considered an outside chance of a medal.
Kiwi Murray Halberg, more of a distance athlete, also made the final. Halberg, 23, was an early protege of distance running guru Arthur Lydiard and, despite his withered arm – damaged in a rugby game as a child – he showed remarkable focus and determination and rose rapidly in the international ranks. He was fifth behind Bannister and Landy in Vancouver and had scraped through to this extremely competitive final.
Little was known of German Klaus Richtenzein, who grew up in the Eastern part of Germany, yet he looked very comfortable winning his heat.
Brian Hewson was another four minute miler . He had become the fourth man in history to break the barrier behind Tabori in London the previous year. At 22, he showed enormous potential and he lined up in the final as an outside threat.
Landy would be joined by the man many saw as the heir to his throne as the top Aussie miler, fellow Victorian Merv Lincoln. Lincoln was a protege – like Hewson – of renowned Austrian coach Franz Stampfl, though he was still developing and was not considered a medal threat in this final.
The heats were a competitive affair, with relatively quick times required to make it to the final. As well as Rosavolgyi, reigning champion Josy Bartel and 20 year-old Michel Jazy were also among those who failed to progress.
In the Final, it was Halberg who took on the early running, going out at about 60-61 seconds a lap, with Lincoln boldly going to the front after 700m, though he didn’t increase the pace and even slowed the pace slightly. The field was bunched and there was some minor jostling going on. Landy, Delany, Hewson & Richtenzein were all in the bunch, with everyone gathering for the final push over the last lap.
Approaching the bell, Lincoln began to struggle and was swallowed up by the field as the big guns gathered themselves as the pace wound up. Around the penultimate bend, there was more push-and-shove and Brit Hewson gradually wound up the pace. up the back straight with 250m to go, and Richtenzein and Tabori followed and Halberg, not known for his speed, began to drop back, just as Ron Delany made a move around the outside and appeared full of running. It was at this stage that Landy lost the chance of winning gold, as he was too slow to react to the big move from Hewson and was a good five metres down on the leaders.
Delany was running wide around the final bend, covering extra ground, but looking like he had plenty left in the tank as he chewed up ground on Hewson, who was faltering slightly. The Irishman burst into the lead. coming into the straight and was suddenly 4 metres up on the rest of the field and on his way to victory.
Landy had run a poor tactical race and was in 6th, having left his fithough was gradually making ground on the leaders. Buoyed by the roar of the home crowd, he finally reeled in Hewson and Tabori and was just inches from Richtzenhain as both men dipped for the tape.
Delany had fulfilled the predictions of his coaches in the USA and the hopes and dreams of his fans at home in Ireland and won convincingly in a new Olympic record of 3.41.2. He had covered the final 300m in an incredible 38.8 seconds. Richtzenhain won silver in 3.42.0, the same time as bronze medallist Landy. Tabori was 4th, Hewson 5th, Jungwirth 6th. Halberg was a disappointing 11th and Lincoln trailed in 12th and last.
Delany carried on in the sport for another 5 or 6 years, winning a bronze in the 1958 European Championships and gold in the World University Games in 1961. He ran the 800m in Rome in 1960, but failed to advance past the second round.
He was part of one of the great mile races of the era when he took on Aussies Herb Elliott, Lincoln & Albie Thomas and Kiwi Halberg, with Elliot smashing Derek Ibbotson’s record by almost 3 seconds and all five men breaking the 4 minute barrier in a classic contest at the famed Santry Stadium in Dublin. Elliott ran 3.54.5, Lincoln was second (3.55.9) and Delany was third, sharing the same time as fourth place-getter Halberg (3.57.5). The pacemaker Thomas ran 3.58.6.
Delany had a successful career in business, working for Aer Lingus and B&I Line – a ferry company – in Ireland and started his own marketing and sports consultancy company in 1998
Richtenzhain, who faded into obscurity in East Germany after the Games, passed away this month at 90 years of age.
Laszlo Tabori – who also finished 6th in the 5000m – eventually emigrated to the US and became a respected and accomplished coach. He died in 2018.
Hewson won the European Championships 1500m in 1958, but only ran the 800m in Rome 1960 after being injured prior to the Games and was run out in the heats. He became a tailor after athletics and was thrice married. He died in 2022 at 89.
Jungwirth became the first man to break 3.40 for 1500m the following year, though he began to experience health issues and retired before the Rome Olympics and retired. He died in 1986 at just 56.
Halberg of course went on to a memorable win in Rome over the 5000m. He also won the 3 miles titles at the 1958 & 1962 Commonwealth Games (British Empire Games). He founded a charity for disabled children and worked relentlessly for decades for disadvantaged young New Zealanders. Sir Murray was an inspirational figure, not only for New Zealand’s disabled and athletics communities, but for the entire nation. He overcame enormous obstacles in his own life, achieving success at the highest level, despite suffering a crippling arm injury in a rugby game as a child. He died a little over two years ago, at 89 and leaves an extraordinary legacy and he is held in the highest regard in Aotearoa to this day.
Lincoln, though disappointing here, improved quite significantly over the next couple of years, peaking in 1958, running the second fastest mile of all time behind Herb Elliott in the classic mile in Dublin and he won a silver in the British Empire Games mile behind Elliott. He failed to advance from his heat in Rome 1960, and soon retired. He died in 2016 at 82.
Post retirement, Landy had quite the diverse career, and not unlike Sir Murray Halberg, he became a distinguished and universally respected elder statesman of the sport in his twilight years. He worked for ICI Australia and was a much sought-after public speaker for many years. With a passion for the natural environment, he had a senior role in the Victorian Land Conservation Council and he wrote two books about nature and environmental issues. He also served on the Bushfire Appeal Fund Advisory Panel in 2009.
In 2001, he succeeded James Gobbo as Victorian Governor and served for 5 years. He memorably ran the final leg of the Queen’s Baton Relay for the 2006 Commonwealth Games and handed the baton to her Majesty before the Opening Ceremony at the MCG.
Landy finally succumbed to Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 91 in 2022 at his home in Castlemaine, Victoria, leaving an extraordinary legacy of lifetime achievement almost unparalleled in Australian history. Could Landy have sprinted to Olympic glory in 1956 with a better tactical run and a build up not disrupted by injury? He may well have, though it just wasn’t to be.
Australian Herb Elliott was the greatest miler of his generation and one of the most dominant middle distance runners in history. Originally from Perth, Elliott moved to Victoria to train under Percy Cerutty, who had,by the late ’50s become a major figure in Australian athletics. He was still not openly embraced by the establishment, but was now a respected guru to many in the sport. Cerutty, though more than four decades Elliott’s senior, found in the teenage Elliott a kindred spirit, a young man totally committed, who would do anything and everything his coach asked of him. Elliott was the leading athlete in Cerutty’s group which had already produced top athletes across the spectrum of distance events in Australia.
In 1958, Elliott had broken world records in the 1500m (3.36.0) and Mile (3.54.5) when he was just twenty and he had also won the 880y/1 mile double at the British Empire Games of Cardiff 1958. He had beaten the very best of the best in Australia, Europe and the USA. The following domestic and international seasons were quiet ones for Elliott, as he married Anne Dudley in early 1959 and the couple had a baby within a year, so there were family responsibilities taking precedence over athletics. Elliott remained undefeated at the mile/1500m going into the 1960 season and with the focus on winning gold in September, the 22 year-old Elliott prepared for the Games in Rome with the most intense training of his life. He drove up and down the sandhills of Portsea and put in the best part of 2,000 miles around the bushtracks and roads of the Mornington Peninsula. He felt ready for anything his rivals could throw at him.
He faced formidable opposition, most notably Frenchmen Michel Jazy and Michel Bernard. Both were brilliant, particularly Jazy, who was becoming one of the great all-round distance running talents of his era.
There for another Games was Hungarian Istvan Rosavoglyi. Along with countrymen Sandor Iharos and Laszlo Tabori, Rosavoglyi had broken world records and by 1956, the Hungarians were prepared to do battle with the likes of Aussie John Landy and Irishman Ronnie Delany in Melbourne for the Games. The Soviet Invasion of Hungary in 1956 had psychologically destroyed the trio. Tabori faded to fourth, Rosavoglyi failed to advance to the final and Iharos didn’t even make the trip to Australia.
For Rosavoglyi, Rome was about redemption and the 31 year-old veteran was well-prepared to take on the young superstar Aussie.
The race was run at a solid if unspectacular pace early, the 1.57.8 800m split meant the field was running slower than 3.40 pace. Bernard made much of the early running and Elliott was back in the pack alongside Jazy. With about 600m left, Elliott made a move to the front and began to wind up the pace, leaving the field stretched out behind him at the bell.
Elliott pushed through the pain and won the gold by a huge margin of 2.8 seconds, finishing in a world record of 3.35.6. Jazy (3.38.4) and Rosovoglyi third (3.39.2). Elliott covered the final lap in just under 56 seconds. Elliott’s world record survived for seven years, until Jim Ryun ran 3.33.1 in 1967 and it was the Australian record for almost 14 years, until Graham ‘Gruffy’ Crouch ran 3.34.22, finishing 5th in the classic 1974 Commonwealth Games final, won in world record time by Filbert Bayi over John Walker.
After a stint at Cambridge University in the early 1960s, Elliott retired from competitive running, feeling that with the demands of study, work and his new young family, he would be unable to match the dedication required to stay at the top.
Elliott went on to achieve success in business and was North American CEO of Puma, worked for Fortescue Metals, and was on the board of Ansell. He has been involved in the Olympic movement and several charities and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.
World Athletics President Seb Coe, Elliott and local dignitaries, appeared at a special ceremony in 2023, when a plaque dedicated to Percy Cerutty was unveiled at the Percy Cerutty Oval in Portsea to honour one of our national sporting legends. Elliott is on record as saying he would not have achieved anywhere near the success he enjoyed, had he not trained with the odd, but brilliant Svengali figure of Australian athletics.
Mexico City 1968:
This race saw a thrilling showdown between Kenyan star Kip Keino and American favourite Jim Ryun. Ryun was a prodigy and destined for greatness from a young age. He was the first high schooler to break 4 minutes for the mile and, at the age of 21, he had broken the mile world record twice (3.51.3 & 3.51.1) as well as having broken Herb Elliott’s 1500m record by 2.5 seconds (3.33.1) the previous year.
Kenyan Kip Keino, the Rift Valley sensation, was a pioneer of Kenyan distance running. He was one of their very first international championship medallists, winning British Empire titles (1 mile & 3 miles) in 1966. The multi-talented Keino would compete in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m in Mexico.
Working in Keino’s favour was the fact that Mexico City was at an altitude of 2,240m, similar to the altitude of the Nandi country area of Kenya, where Keino was raised. Virtually all of the Kenyans at Mexico were born at high altitude, which meant they were far more able to cope with the thinner, less oxygenated air when this far above sea level.
What happened at the Games turned out almost exactly as predicted: Aided by the rarefied atmosphere, the records for the power events – the sprints and jumps – were, for the most part, completely obliterated in Mexico. In all, thirteen world records were broken in athletics. All records were in sprints, relays and jumps. Most notable was Bob Beamon’s 8.90m long jump, which was a world record for 23 years and still stands as an Olympic record.
By contrast, any event over 1500m saw athletes from sea level had problems breathing. Teenager Raelene Boyle won silver in the 200m, as did teammate Peter Norman, with Aussies Maureen Caird and Pam Kilborn going one-two in the 80m hurdles. Aussie Ralph Doubell equalled the world record in winning the 800m (1.44.40, 1.44.3 hand timed), though Australian world record holders Ron Clarke and Derek Clayton were unable to cope with the conditions, with Clarke collapsing at the end of the 10,000m after finishing 6th, but he returned for the 5000m to finish 5th. Though on paper his Fukuoka Marathon world record time was several minutes faster than his nearest rival, Clayton was a disappointing 7th in the marathon.
Keino was more an endurance based runner, and Ryun was more of an 800/1500m type and was considered to have an edge on his rivals for speed. With an 880y world record of 1.44.9 – the then world record – Ryun was considered to be near unbeatable. Virtually everyone in Ryun’s town of Wichita, Kansas (pop. 300,000) – whether they were linemen for the county, schoolkids, homemakers, farmers, carpenters – sat glued to their radios and TVs for the big race, expecting their man to bring home the gold.
The 1500m featured Ryun and Keino, along with emerging Kenyan star Ben Jipcho, West Germans Bodo Tummler and Harald Norpoth – the silver medallist from the 5000m in Tokyo 1964, as well as Josef Odlozil (TCH), the 1500m silver winner from Tokyo.
The race began at a blistering tempo, with Jipcho going out hard from the gun, covering the first lap in 55.98 seconds – on pace for a sub-3.30 finish. Keino was sitting in about 4th, with Ryun back in 8th. Jipcho continued the fast pace and it was clear he was effectively a pacemaker for Keino, who took over the lead with just two laps to go. Keino went through 800m in 1.55.31 and began to build a huge lead, with Jipcho dropping back. Ryun, seemingly out of the running, was back in 6th, some 30 odd metres behind Keino. Tummler gave chase, about 15 metres behind Keino, with John Whetton (GBR) and Norpoth running 3rd and 4th respectively. At the bell, Ryun was in 5th, still 25 metres down on Keino and he had begun a desperate, but ultimately futile attempt to chase down the Kenyan champion. Keino went through 1200m in 2.53.37, and showed no signs of slowing down.
Ryun accelerated up the back straight and moved into second just before the 200m mark, but Keino maintained his lead. Keino powered down the home straight and finished in a new Olympic record of 3.34.91, taking just over half a second off Herb Elliott’s Olympic record. Ryun (3.37.89) won the silver, finishing some 20 metres behind Keino, with Tummler 3rd (3.39.08).
It was a huge disappointment for Ryun, who clearly suffered the effects of the altitude, though was proud of his silver medal, given the circumstances. He briefly retired the following year, yet regained his passion for the sport and qualified for the 1972 Munich Olympics. Prior to the Games, he had run the third fastest mile of all time (3.52.8) and looked a big favourite for the gold. He ended up in a slow heat and was tripped, fell over and could not make up ground and was run out in his heat. Ryun eventually became involved in Christian charities and became a Congressman for Kansas.
Keino also won a silver in the 5000m in Mexico. He dominated the 1500m in Edinburgh in the Commonwealth Games in 1970, but was outclassed by two locals – Ian Stewart and Ian McCafferty – in an ultra competitive 5000m. He was in Munich 1972 to defend his 1500m title, but was outclassed by Pekka Vassala (FIN), though Keino managed to hold out Rod Dixon (NZL) and win the silver. He also won the steeplechase in Munich, outkicking Jipcho, despite being a relative novice at the event. He also broke the Olympic record (8.23.6). In an interview for Runners Tribe, the great Paul Tergat spoke in reverential tones about his hero Keino. He said that, in Kenya, Keino is considered to be the father of Kenyan distance running. His legacy is huge in his homeland and he has inspired multiple generations of world-beating distance champions.
, yet Cole Hocker (USA) crashed the party with a stunning surge over the final 50m to upset the two favourites and smash the Olympic record in the process.){kind=link}