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
01 !	Venanzio Ortis	Italy	13:28.52
02 !	Markus Ryffel	Switzerland	13:28.60
02 !	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