5,000 metres, Men

In 1983 the first World Championship had been won by Ireland’s Eamonn Coghlan, but he was injured in 1984 and did not compete. An early favorite was Britain’s Dave Moorcroft, who had won the 1982 Commonwealth Games and set the world record in July 1982, challenging the 13-minute barrier with 13:00.41. He competed in Los Angeles, but also with an injury, and although he made the final, he finished 14th and last. Morocco’s Saïd Aouita was a favorite, but it was not certain if he would run the 1,500 or 5K, eventually opting for this event. The final was a fast pace, set for 3K by Portugal’s António Leitão. Six runners were together at that point, but on the penultimate lap, Leitão ran 60.1 to drop all but Aouita and Markus Ryffel (SUI). Aouita took the lead on the backstretch of the final lap, and dropped Ryffel on the curve, winning the gold medal with Leitão struggling in for the bronze, burned out by his early pace-setting tactics. In 1985 would break Moorcroft’s world record, barely, running 13:00.40 at the Bislett Games in Oslo. Then in Roma in 1987, he became the first man to run under 13 minutes with a world record of 12:58.39.