Ahhhh...the wonder of Mamede. We see him blow away everyone(including the legendary kicker Cova of Italy) with a 55 second+ last lap to record a rather easy looking 27:45 in this semi-final. Then, just a couple of days later he "blows up" in the final (won in 28:01 by the great Cova kick) and rolls in at 14th place in 28:14! His mind always "got the best of him" in the really big races. His legend of being a 'big race choker" even dwarfs the same label put to one of the greats of long distance running, that being the Australian Ron Clarke. It is interesting to take note that in the prior year to this race Mamede had outkicked Cova in a European circuit race in Switzerland in a very fast 27:33 10K race. His position as one of the best 5K and 10K runners of the 1980's will always be tainted because of his many big meet failures. Great posting, keep them coming if you have them!
Ron Clarke was absolutely not a choker--in fact, he was an extremely mentally tough competitor. His problems were threefold--1) he had no significant ability to kick on the last lap--in that regard he was much like Carlos Lopes in this race. 2) he was self-coached and had a tendency to overtrain/not taper sufficiently prior to major races--for example, just a couple of days prior to the 1964 Olympic 10,000, he ran a very fast 4 mile time trial that probably took something out of him for the final, and 3) one of his peak periods coincided with the appallingly stupid and unfair decision to hold the Olympic games at high altitude, which resulted in African athletes who had been born and raised at altitude winning all events from the 1500 to the marathon (and sweeping the medals in the 5000 and 10,000). Clarke's performance in the 1968 Olympic 10,000 was one of the most amazing displays of courage and mental toughness ever seen on the track; he lead for much of the race and collapsed unconscious at the finish, and had to be given oxygen by Dr. Brian Corrigan--seen here--who believed Clarke was near-death: twitter.com/CGMMaher/status/972018018510282752 Sadly, Clarke never fully recovered from his experience at Mexico.
i have a big soft spot for Mamede, fantastically talented with acceleration, speed and endurance , but a victim of his own insecurities in major finals. What might have been.
@@johnstirling9120 It's amazing that Mamede ran the 4x400m for Portugal in Munich 1972, progressing to the 800m and 1500m in Montreal and finally the 10,000m at LA in 1984!
@@tommytempo1 Watching his heats of the 1500 in 76, 10k at the 83 worlds and the 10 k heat at the 84 Olympics,( when he had set the world record a few weeks prior in Stockholm) it makes me wonder how he could have gone if a decent sports psychologist had got into his head early in his career. He had it all physically, matched the likes of Ovett, Wessinghage and Cova in the sprint to the line (when it didn't really matter) but went to water in the final. It even looked like he had his head together in 81 at the world cross where he got a bronze , but not to be. PS. Any idea where there is video of the 81 world cross race?
@@johnstirling6597 Yes, it was frustrating watching Mamede run so disappointingly in the major finals over 10,000m at Helsinki in 1983 and LA in 1984. As you said, physically he had it all, but come the major finals, he somehow psyched himself out of being a contender. It has been suggested that Lopes intentionally came second to Mamede in the Portugese Cross Country Champs in 1985, leading up to the World Cross Country Champs to be held in Lisbon. Poor Mamede then had to shoulder all of the media attention leading up to the race. As you know, Lopes went onto to win but Mamede still had a good run finishing 11th. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the 1981 World XC race and haven't seen it posted.
14:21 José Gómez (MEX), 7° lugar, Heat 2, con un tiempo de 28:07.57.
I like Mamede too bad he had no success in big games
Ahhhh...the wonder of Mamede. We see him blow away everyone(including the legendary kicker Cova of Italy) with a 55 second+ last lap to record a rather easy looking 27:45 in this semi-final. Then, just a couple of days later he "blows up" in the final (won in 28:01 by the great Cova kick) and rolls in at 14th place in 28:14! His mind always "got the best of him" in the really big races. His legend of being a 'big race choker" even dwarfs the same label put to one of the greats of long distance running, that being the Australian Ron Clarke. It is interesting to take note that in the prior year to this race Mamede had outkicked Cova in a European circuit race in Switzerland in a very fast 27:33 10K race. His position as one of the best 5K and 10K runners of the 1980's will always be tainted because of his many big meet failures. Great posting, keep them coming if you have them!
Ron Clarke was absolutely not a choker--in fact, he was an extremely mentally tough competitor. His problems were threefold--1) he had no significant ability to kick on the last lap--in that regard he was much like Carlos Lopes in this race. 2) he was self-coached and had a tendency to overtrain/not taper sufficiently prior to major races--for example, just a couple of days prior to the 1964 Olympic 10,000, he ran a very fast 4 mile time trial that probably took something out of him for the final, and 3) one of his peak periods coincided with the appallingly stupid and unfair decision to hold the Olympic games at high altitude, which resulted in African athletes who had been born and raised at altitude winning all events from the 1500 to the marathon (and sweeping the medals in the 5000 and 10,000). Clarke's performance in the 1968 Olympic 10,000 was one of the most amazing displays of courage and mental toughness ever seen on the track; he lead for much of the race and collapsed unconscious at the finish, and had to be given oxygen by Dr. Brian Corrigan--seen here--who believed Clarke was near-death: twitter.com/CGMMaher/status/972018018510282752
Sadly, Clarke never fully recovered from his experience at Mexico.
i have a big soft spot for Mamede, fantastically talented with acceleration, speed and endurance , but a victim of his own insecurities in major finals. What might have been.
@@johnstirling9120 It's amazing that Mamede ran the 4x400m for Portugal in Munich 1972, progressing to the 800m and 1500m in Montreal and finally the 10,000m at LA in 1984!
@@tommytempo1 Watching his heats of the 1500 in 76, 10k at the 83 worlds and the 10 k heat at the 84 Olympics,( when he had set the world record a few weeks prior in Stockholm) it makes me wonder how he could have gone if a decent sports psychologist had got into his head early in his career. He had it all physically, matched the likes of Ovett, Wessinghage and Cova in the sprint to the line (when it didn't really matter) but went to water in the final.
It even looked like he had his head together in 81 at the world cross where he got a bronze , but not to be.
PS. Any idea where there is video of the 81 world cross race?
@@johnstirling6597 Yes, it was frustrating watching Mamede run so disappointingly in the major finals over 10,000m at Helsinki in 1983 and LA in 1984. As you said, physically he had it all, but come the major finals, he somehow psyched himself out of being a contender. It has been suggested that Lopes intentionally came second to Mamede in the Portugese Cross Country Champs in 1985, leading up to the World Cross Country Champs to be held in Lisbon. Poor Mamede then had to shoulder all of the media attention leading up to the race. As you know, Lopes went onto to win but Mamede still had a good run finishing 11th. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the 1981 World XC race and haven't seen it posted.