The men's 5000 metres at the 1971 European Athletics Championships was held in Helsinki, Finland, at Helsinki Olympic Stadium on 12 and 14 August 1971.
Medalists Gold Juha Väätäinen Silver Jean Wadoux Bronze Harald Norpoth
Results Final 14 August Contrary to the 10,000-metre race of these European Athletics Championships, the 5,000-metre final was run at a slow pace for most of its laps. Early during the final, the Soviet Union's Vladimir Afonin was pushed by one or more other runners, fell down, and dropped out of the race. Finland's Juha Väätäinen, who was a strong pre-race favourite, given his explosive kick in the 10,000-metre race, kept observing the situation without taking the lead before the final lap. So did the two other pre-race favourites, France's Jean Wadoux and West Germany's Harald Norpoth. Although Wadoux was several seconds faster than Väätäinen in 1,500 metres, for some strange reason the Frenchman did not try to break away from the Finn before the final lap. Neither did Norpoth, who was also a fast 1,500-metre runner, having placed fourth in that distance at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympics. At the start of the final lap, there were still at least eight or nine runners in the lead group. Finland's young Lasse Viren tried to sprint into the lead, but he was pushed so hard by some other runners that he nearly lost his balance for a few seconds. With about 300 metres left, Väätäinen unleashed his furious kick, and only Wadoux and Norpoth were able to follow him. On the final bend, Väätäinen began to pull away from Wadoux and Norpoth, and stretched his lead further on the home straight. For some seconds, it looked as if also Norpoth would pass Wadoux, but then the French runner was able to accelerate enough to leave the West German runner with the bronze medal. As a result of Väätäinen's double European titles in the long-distance races, a new enthusiasm for the long-distance running began in Finland. (Väätäinen & Eeli Aalto, One More Lap / Kierros vielä (Finland, 1972); Raevuori, Antero, Lasse Viren: The Gilded Spikes / Kullatut piikkarit (Finland, c. 1976); Wunsche, Wolfgang, The Heroes of the Race Tracks (the Finnish edition, c. 1984); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nE-TxH2DdQ EUROPEI DI HELSINKI 1971 5000 VAATAINEN.) Rank Name Nationality Time Notes Juha Väätäinen 13:32.48 CR NR Jean Wadoux 13:33.56 Harald Norpoth 13:33.79 4 Danijel Korica 13:34.88 5 Javier Álvarez 13:35.84 6 Emiel Puttemans 13:36.60 7 Lasse Virén 13:38.46 8 Bronisław Malinowski 13:39.33 NR 9 Frank Eisenberg 13:41.07 10 Petras Simonelis 13:42.78 11 Mike Baxter 13:43.16 12 Rune Holmén 13:46.50 13 Allan Rushmer 13:48.19 14 Bernd Dießner 13:50.79 Vladimir Afonin DNF
Heats 12 August
Heat 1 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1 Jean Wadoux 13:44.2 Q 2 Javier Alvarez 13:44.4 Q 3 Harald Norpoth 13:45.6 Q 4 Mike Baxter 13:45.6 Q 5 Rune Holmén 13:46.4 Q 6 Jos Hermens 13:47.2 NR 7 Muharrem Dalkılıç 14:39.0
Heat 2 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1 Juha Väätäinen 13:47.6 Q 2 Bernd Dießner 13:49.8 Q 3 Bronisław Malinowski 13:50.0 Q 4 Danijel Korica 13:52.8 Q 5 Petras Simonelis 13:54.4 Q 6 Alan Blinston 14:01.2 7 Egbert Nijstadt 14:05.2 8 Wolfgang Falke 14:05.6 9 Giuseppe Ardizzone 14:06.6 10 Jean-Yves Le Flohic 14:10.2 11 Donald Walsh 14:12.6
Heat 3 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1 Emiel Puttemans 13:50.4 Q 2 Frank Eisenberg 13:52.4 Q 3 Allan Rushmer 13:52.6 Q 4 Lasse Virén 13:53.2 Q 5 Vladimir Afonin 13:53.6 Q 6 Giuseppe Cindolo 13:54.8 7 Werner Girke 13:56.0 8 Stanislav Hoffman 13:58.6 9 Michel Bernard 14:02.2 Arne Kvalheim DNF
Participation According to an unofficial count, 28 athletes from 16 countries participated in the event.
(1) (1) (2) (3) (3) (1) (2) (2) (1) (1) (2) (1) (1) (3) (3) (1)
References