Dr Wessinghage was absolute class. He was a superb 1500m man and a contemporary of Ovett since they were juniors. Despite his outstanding ability he could never get near Ovett, in fact, I don't think he ever beat him over 1500m in 10 years of competing against each other. I remember this broadcast as though it were yesterday. Ovett was in the BBC studio as a pundit and was genuinely pleased at Thomas's success. A brilliant race and a brilliant champion.
Ja, das war er. Schade nur, dass er bei Olympischen Spielen nie reüssieren konnte. Wie sagte er selbst einmal:"1972 war ich zu jung, 1976 zu blöd und 1980 haben wir boykottiert." Gerade 1980 hätte er trotz eines Miruts Yifter gute Chancen gehabt.
Note for example Werner Schildhauer's sharp final kick: During the last 100 metres, he rose from the fourth place to the silver medal. Evgeni Ignatov improved his position even more impressively: from the seventh place to the fourth place. By contrast, Tim Hutchings tired out badly: from the third place to the seventh place. However, he would place fourth in the 1984 Los Angeles (2nd) Summer Olympics, and third in the 1986 Stuttgart European Athletics Championships. Greetings and God's blessings from the Philippines!
tommytempo1, thanks for posting this race. It has been published allready, but only in two pieces. It is a pity, that Moorcraft was boxed on the home straight of the second last lap with just about 450 meters to go, otherwise the result may have been different. On the other hand the finishing sprint of Wessinghage was devastating, so it would have been hard for Moorcraft to follow anyway.
Moorcroft had peaked in June / July and was not at his best here. Wessinghage was outkicked by Schildhauer and Kunze over 5K in 13:12 in Zurich just prior to this race, but Wessinghage benefitted from the slower pace and could use his miler speed. Moorcroft and Wessinghage were both sub-3:50 milers so both at their best on a last lap would have been worth seeing. All credit to Wessinghage for winning the race and for Moorcroft to bounce back and win the Commonwealth 5K the following month.
@@christianlunke1972 You are welcome Christian. Not many know that Wessinghage outkicked Miruts Yifter on the last lap of the 5000m at the Weltklasse Zurich GP in 1979.
@@kerstinsulzer8399 Thank you. Marty Liquori also outkicked Yifter at the Weltklasse Zurich GP in 1977, but Yifter turned the tables at the World Cup at Dusseldorf a week or two later. villanovarunning.blogspot.com/2013/08/on-this-day-in-1977-marty-liquori-sets.html
The final's official results were the following: 1st place, European Champion Thomas Wessinghage West Germany 13:28.90 2nd place, silver medalist Werner Schildhauer East Germany 13:30.03 3rd place, bronze medalist Dave Moorcroft United Kingdom 13:30.42 4 Evgeni Ignatov Bulgaria 13:30.95 5 Dietmar Millonig Austria 13:31.03 6 Valeriy Abramov Soviet Union 13:31.26 7 Tim Hutchings United Kingdom 13:31.83 8 Martti Vainio Finland 13:33.69 9 Hansjörg Kunze East Germany 13:35.71 10 Markus Ryffel Switzerland 13:36.11 11 Dmitriy Dmitriyev Soviet Union 13:37.91 12 Mike McLeod United Kingdom 13:38.99 13 Christoph Herle West Germany 13:45.54 14 Mats Erixon Sweden 13:52.39 Alberto Cova Italy DQ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_European_Athletics_Championships_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_5000_metres#Final
I don't know. To me it seemed, that he was determend to win this race. He was the record holder and he lead all the way through until the end of second last lap. Wessinghage surely tracked Moorcraft until he realised, that he was not the one to be beaten at this occasion. So it is a pity, that Moorcraft did not perform better in this race. He should deserved it. Excause my poor English. I am German. Cheers to all those great middle distance runners from Great Brittain like Moorcraft, Ovett, Coe and Cram.
Thank you for this. Relieved to know that Wessinghage, who time after time came after Coe and Ovett, had his moment of glory.
Dr Wessinghage was absolute class. He was a superb 1500m man and a contemporary of Ovett since they were juniors. Despite his outstanding ability he could never get near Ovett, in fact, I don't think he ever beat him over 1500m in 10 years of competing against each other. I remember this broadcast as though it were yesterday. Ovett was in the BBC studio as a pundit and was genuinely pleased at Thomas's success. A brilliant race and a brilliant champion.
Ein wunderbares Rennen von meinem ostfälischen Lauffreund ganz große Klasse ich kann es mir immer wieder anschauen Gerd Ulrich
Thomas Wessinghage, einer der ganz großen!
Ja, das war er. Schade nur, dass er bei Olympischen Spielen nie reüssieren konnte. Wie sagte er selbst einmal:"1972 war ich zu jung, 1976 zu blöd und 1980 haben wir boykottiert." Gerade 1980 hätte er trotz eines Miruts Yifter gute Chancen gehabt.
@@dr.socrates1426 Yes, Wessinghage was in great form in 1980.
Note for example Werner Schildhauer's sharp final kick: During the last 100 metres, he rose from the fourth place to the silver medal. Evgeni Ignatov improved his position even more impressively: from the seventh place to the fourth place. By contrast, Tim Hutchings tired out badly: from the third place to the seventh place. However, he would place fourth in the 1984 Los Angeles (2nd) Summer Olympics, and third in the 1986 Stuttgart European Athletics Championships. Greetings and God's blessings from the Philippines!
tommytempo1, thanks for posting this race. It has been published allready, but only in two pieces. It is a pity, that Moorcraft was boxed on the home straight of the second last lap with just about 450 meters to go, otherwise the result may have been different. On the other hand the finishing sprint of Wessinghage was devastating, so it would have been hard for Moorcraft to follow anyway.
Moorcroft had peaked in June / July and was not at his best here. Wessinghage was outkicked by Schildhauer and Kunze over 5K in 13:12 in Zurich just prior to this race, but Wessinghage benefitted from the slower pace and could use his miler speed. Moorcroft and Wessinghage were both sub-3:50 milers so both at their best on a last lap would have been worth seeing. All credit to Wessinghage for winning the race and for Moorcroft to bounce back and win the Commonwealth 5K the following month.
tommytempo1 Hello, thank you very much for this additional information.
@@christianlunke1972 You are welcome Christian. Not many know that Wessinghage outkicked Miruts Yifter on the last lap of the 5000m at the Weltklasse Zurich GP in 1979.
Nor did I know. That' s terrific, considering that Yifter had an tremendous kick himself. You surely habe some insight into track and field.
@@kerstinsulzer8399 Thank you. Marty Liquori also outkicked Yifter at the Weltklasse Zurich GP in 1977, but Yifter turned the tables at the World Cup at Dusseldorf a week or two later. villanovarunning.blogspot.com/2013/08/on-this-day-in-1977-marty-liquori-sets.html
Man sieht es von Anfang an: Wessinghage hatte einen Plan und war topfit!
The final's official results were the following:
1st place, European Champion Thomas Wessinghage West Germany 13:28.90
2nd place, silver medalist Werner Schildhauer East Germany 13:30.03
3rd place, bronze medalist Dave Moorcroft United Kingdom 13:30.42
4 Evgeni Ignatov Bulgaria 13:30.95
5 Dietmar Millonig Austria 13:31.03
6 Valeriy Abramov Soviet Union 13:31.26
7 Tim Hutchings United Kingdom 13:31.83
8 Martti Vainio Finland 13:33.69
9 Hansjörg Kunze East Germany 13:35.71
10 Markus Ryffel Switzerland 13:36.11
11 Dmitriy Dmitriyev Soviet Union 13:37.91
12 Mike McLeod United Kingdom 13:38.99
13 Christoph Herle West Germany 13:45.54
14 Mats Erixon Sweden 13:52.39
Alberto Cova Italy DQ
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_European_Athletics_Championships_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_5000_metres#Final
Every dog has his day.
Moorecraft ran a terrible tactical race he did not get boxed in he allowed himself to be boxed in.
Robert Browne he did
I don't know. To me it seemed, that he was determend to win this race. He was the record holder and he lead all the way through until the end of second last lap. Wessinghage surely tracked Moorcraft until he realised, that he was not the one to be beaten at this occasion. So it is a pity, that Moorcraft did not perform better in this race. He should deserved it. Excause my poor English. I am German. Cheers to all those great middle distance runners from Great Brittain like Moorcraft, Ovett, Coe and Cram.
It’s Moorcroft not Moorecraft!!