RIP Miruts Yifter: Ethiopia's 1st-ever track gold medallist has died

LtM wrote:

Destroys C. Virgin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB8hEc3yIwE

This is what I put on my FB page yesterday and I meant every word. Yifter was an iconic athlete and we split our two meetings. I was lucky that he was not quite as good at X-C as he was at track. Again, I will point out that I coined the nickname "Yifter the Shifter" after he kicked my ass good over the final 300 of the 10K in 1979 World Cup in Montreal! All I saw was a blur of 2 white sweat socks go by me! RIP, my old friend and competitor!

"I am on way home for Christmas and learned that my old Ethiopian competitor, Miruts Yifter, died at age 72 up in Toronto yesterday. We had a date in destiny at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 that that was prevented by Jimmy Carter's boycott....and I hope that we can revisit in the next life. I greatly respected his talent and his fierce competitiveness as well as his ascent from poverty. People keep forgetting that I was the one who nicknamed him "Yifter the Shifter" after his kicked my butt with a 53 second final 400 at the 1979 World Cup Champs 10,000 m. race in Montreal. I said it during several interviews that night but most notably to Tom Jordan who was a reporter for TFNews back then. It was the perfect monniker for such a big kicker and it really fit him well!. I used it in post race interviews that Friday night in August 1979 and they still are using it today!. RIP, Miruts! I will always respect and admire you. Never to be forgotten"

joel pasternack wrote:

It's sad to hear such a great man and runner has died. i saw him run in madison square garden in the 70s and have many videos of his races. yifter was quite the shifter. i have wonderful memories of his great performances. his cheerful presence will be missed.

Boris, you're going to have to prove your MSG claim. How come no mention of Durham, NC 1971 VS Pre. That is the race to remember.

ukathleticcoach wrote:It was in 1977 and mentioned in the Ovett autobiography

"... i became involved in some unusual for me races... a 5k in gateshead... i cannot remember now why i shoud be running that when i needed to be sharpening up for 800/1500... "persuaded" by andy norman... facing yifter, a short, balding ethiopian of indeterminate age of much mystery... missed '76 games but run-up produced some sensational 5k running...

...very hot afternoon... ford/black, 2 of our best 5k runners runners in field... i can remember my apprehensiveness as i finished my warm-up, feeling very hot indeed & looking down at yifter ( he's very short ) & thinking he probably feels cold... we set off & coming down the stretch, the board said 12, which for an 800 runner like myself was like chinese water torture... 11 , 10 , 9... with the pain increasing, i thought, "what am i doing here ? i coud be at home watching this on tv !"

... as we got deeper & deeper into race i got hotter'n'hotter & commentator pickering was saying "he looks so relaxed" !... with about 4 laps to go i was feeling very rough, but around me was plenty of heavy breathing, so i kept at it with the 2 brits & yifter... all i coud do over the last 3 laps was hang on while the world looked on waiting for the big kick... black was leading with me at shoulder with yifter trapped on inside... that was all i coud do... but it was no hindrance to yifter... with 250 to go, he just reversed as it were & went aroud the outside...

... a flash of dark brown skin disappearing into the horizon was last i saw of him until the prize-giving...

... the coup-de-grace was swift & merciful...

... he finished 30m clear of me at the tape... when i turned into the final straight, i realised i had nothing left... i was wobbling from lane'to'lane with feeling i wasn't going to finish & ford/black who didn't have a kick to save their lives were gaining on me... i coud never have faced the lads at the club if i'd been outsprinted by those 2, so i tried to raise a gallop... reaching the line i collapsed with my face burning...

... as i walked back across the field some minutes later to pick up my tracksuit, i resolved to have a long recovery time before i tried that torture again - like several years...

... when people ask why i don't run more 5ks, the burning memory of this race is etched in my mind as a deterrent...

... the statisticians & analysts lifted my morale somewhat by pointing out that my 13'25 put me in UK top-10 & that i had a last lap of 59

... however, yifter had a 54.6 & it didn't surprise me when he ran 2 golds at 2 world cups & moscow"

some general conclusions, not yifter-specific

- ovett still considered himself a "800 guy" in '77 despite this epic win :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W7GogWlv7Q

where he was likely 3'30 at worst, probably closer to 3'29-flat, as a self-regarded "800 guy"

his 800 shape that dusseldorf was probably 1'42-high / 1'43-flat

he was a likely 1/4s at worst, quicker over 800 in '78 & likely ~ 1s quicker over 1500 for

~ 1'42-mid/high / 3'28-flat/low

here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjzR8AOvEzc

- his 5k shape despite protesting of collapse/etc still had 59 finish when 64+ expected in a 13'25

he still had plenty left on last lap, probably 13'15 - 13'20 at even=pace & maybe even 13'10 - 13'15 on cooler day

the wr that day was 13'12.8 of quax

ovett had that abilty that day on cool zurich day, paced smoothly to 3k & solo last 2k, off just "800 ability" !!!

- yifter was just yifter, capable of ~ 13'05 that year based on huge sprint in 13'13.8 to win dusseldorf

- 5k wr of 13'12/13'13 by p!ss-poor in '77, because of inept pacing & unambitious guys happy to jog along behind slow pacers & make some effort in last mile or so

the record, just from emiel's woeful 13'13.0 splits in '72 of :

2'33+ !!!

2'38

2'39

2'44+ !!!

2'37+

shouda been

13'05 - 13'07.5

back in '72

that's ignoring clarke who's 13'16.6 on dirt in '66 wouda been 13'10 at worst at even pace with drafting to 3k & likely

~ 12'55+ on '70s synthetic with same caveats considering dirt track gets chewed up more lap-after-lap...

- ron was better 10k than 5k runner from analysis / reports / anecdote, so he probably couda gone ~ 26'40 - 26'45 in that shape

- yifter was great runner, but the 5k / 10k wrs entering '66, let alone '70s shouda been, given ideal etc, etc on same '70s synthetic with ideal pacing to 3k in a 5k & 5k in a 10k of

~ 12'52/12'53 / 26'40/26'45

Don't be ridiculous Ovett wasn't in 3:29/30 shape at this time. Maybe mid-3:33 all out.

Yifter finishes 54.xx kicking only 250 meters, 53 kicking 300 meters. I say it again, he destroys Mo Farah who needs the whole 400 to do that. Just plain faster.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Yifter finishes 54.xx kicking only 250 meters, 53 kicking 300 meters. I say it again, he destroys Mo Farah who needs the whole 400 to do that. Just plain faster.

I noticed watching the Moscow 10,000 final. He just explodes at 300m. Saw the likeness to Farah. Wonder what Yifter could have done if he'd tried to kick the last 400m?

Also what could Yifter have run for 1500m in todays era. 3:27 ish?

I saw Miruts race twice. One was at the Springbank Road races in London, Ontario. Miruts was entered in the 12 mile race and his main competition was Neil Cusack of Ireland, winner of the Boston Marathon that year (1974). Cusack led most of the way with Yifter shadowing him, looking down at the ground. Since the Springbank races were look courses in the park, I was able to see them go by several times. The last time before the finish was about a half mile to go, and they were still locked in that 1,2 position. I quickly ran to the finish and low and behold here comes Yifter with Cusack no where in sight. Neil finally finished but he was badly beaten. I wonder how Yifter manage to do that. Did Cusack fall or what?

The second time I saw Yifter run and the place I saw how Yifter managed to win by such a large amount was the Toronto Maple Leaf games of 1975 in the two mile race. Various people had the lead and each time you would think they would win, until Yifter finally took the lead with about two laps to go. When he did, he just ran away from the pack with an unbelievable kick. It was something at the time I had never seen. RIP Miruts.

Subway Surfers Addiction wrote:Don't be ridiculous Ovett wasn't in 3:29/30 shape at this time. Maybe mid-3:33 all out.

is this a joke ???

you clearly weren't watching this race live or following era at the time if that is your estimate

no one in their right mind who saw ovett live on tv destroy the best field around in dusseldorf with that incredible kick had any doubt he was in far, far superior shape to 3'32.1

3'29/3'30 is very likely for '77 & he was 100% at worst in this shape in '78 off 1'44.09 / 8'13.5, both of which were tactical runs despite quick clockings

his '78 shape was more like

~ 3'28-flat

Calculo, it sure sounds as if everybody in history has horribly underperformed. You sound like the kind of guy who would tell his wife on the honeymoon: I am capable of much better. IF all these variables come together, I will be able to please you.

RIP Yifter. You were one of the greatest ever.