Viren's Onitsuka Tigers, 1976 Olympics

Jack Daniels Calculator wrote:

This is probably a dumb question,

Of course he wore spikes. There are hundreds of photos of him holding them in his hands.

This might help:

1976 – RUNSPARK

By 1972, Onitsuka Tiger’s reputation for performance innovation had spread from Japan. Finnish distance running legend Lasse Virén was a perfect Tiger athlete, but his love of the brand would cause some controversy. In 1976, this flying Finn was keen to build on his Munich gold medals. After winning the 10,000 metre event again in Montreal, a triumphant Virén waved his specially modified Runspark spikes aloft in victory. That behaviour was deemed an act of promotion, though the athlete explained that it was because he had a blister. Suspended from the 5,000 metre event as a result, it looked like a ‘double double’ was an impossibility until the suspension was overturned two hours before the race. Virén took another gold.

https://sizestores.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/AAANM008_HD.jpg

https://blog.size.co.uk/2014/12/19/onitsuka-tiger-asics-history-1949-1970-gary-warnett-part-2/

malmo wrote:

Jack Daniels Calculator wrote:

This is probably a dumb question,

Of course he wore spikes. There are hundreds of photos of him holding them in his hands.

I know there are photos of him holding his shoes in his hands, but as I implied in the OP, I have yet to find a photo that shows the spike plate in the shoes he is holding up. YMMV.

Interesting side topic:

The male models which were selected in the following advertisement for the West Coast flavored 'San Diego' and 'Enduro' shoes resemble, somewhat, Prefontaine (maybe not coincidentally, at that):

https://sizestores.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/OT-ASICS-The-History-Images-10-copy.jpg

Jack Daniels Calculator wrote:

This is probably a dumb question, but did Viren's Onitsuka Tigers that he wore, winning the 5000m and 10000m, in Montreal have a spike plate?

I still haven't found pictures to confirm this. The following picture indicates they actually may not have:

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/GB7RCY/athletics-montreal-olympic-games-1976-mens-5000m-GB7RCY.jpg

That bottom is the same as my Tiger Spartan B spikes from the late 70's.

You can see the green insert in the heel and the spike placement (3 in the back row) in your first pic of Viren if you look close.

The pics below show the basic Runspark/Spartan B bottom set up, although when new the plate was closer to the white in the '76 pics than the age yellowed version in the link.

You can also see the spikes in this pic from Moscow, 4 years later. Same basic Runspark shoe. Trust us, they are there. Loved those shoes, still have my 40+ year old Spartan B's.

...here you go again ..talking to yourself...lol

That article I posted earlier stated the spikes were "specially modified"; wonder what that was about?

One old Tigers ad says they used a chemically modified version of EVA (in at least one model of their shoes.) Your 40-yr-old spikes might possibly last longer than the new super-spikes of today (without preservation concern). I have a 10-yr old pair of shoes (from a different manufacturer) sitting in a closet; it had an interesting shock absorbing foam, which is now disintegrating away.

I wore Spartan-Bs for a time in college. I'd had them through high school, but thought they were too old, opting instead for Nike for some reason.

The Tigers were far better than anything else out there, until the Zoom line evolved a bit (meaning the later 80s).

Viren's shoes were the original, modified LD spikes. The stack height looks crazy even for today, much less the 70s.

I wonder where those spikes are now? Must be worth quite a bit for some collector.

Jack Daniels Calculator wrote:

This is probably a dumb question, but did Viren's Onitsuka Tigers that he wore, winning the 5000m and 10000m, in Montreal have a spike plate?

I still haven't found pictures to confirm this. The following picture indicates they actually may not have:

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/GB7RCY/athletics-montreal-olympic-games-1976-mens-5000m-GB7RCY.jpg

How is Viren's modified shoe any better than Adidas Titan from same era?

They essentially just a had a heel wedge ghetto glued to the normal outsole. No doubt to ease his heel injuries.

malmo wrote:

Of course he wore spikes. There are hundreds of photos of him holding them in his hands.

I was not there. But I had a friend who was who said he timed Viren in lane 8 with his spikes over his head in sub 80.

Hell, the guy's celebration can beat me.

According to this article, the ASICS corporation has them

https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a26415741/asics-founder-kihachiro-onitsuka/

How is Viren's modified shoe any better than Adidas Titan from same era?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adidas-Titan-Red-038821-5-5/dp/B005BDX8HI[/quote

]

That picture makes the Titan look like it has a heel. The ones I remember had little to nothing in back, like the pics below. The Tiger's at least had 1/4 inch or so of something below your heel.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-70s-adidas-titan-red-track-136468354

That's not "stack height", it's just a strip of rubber wrapped around the upper and heel counter of the shoe.

https://postimg.cc/QFWPzckg

That would be the deepest upper on any running shoe ever, then.

The shoe also has midsole inside the upper, above the spike plate, or the physics of the shoe make no sense. This would also make the shoe revolutionary.

just the facts wrote:

malmo wrote:

Of course he wore spikes. There are hundreds of photos of him holding them in his hands.

I was not there. But I had a friend who was who said he timed Viren in lane 8 with his spikes over his head in sub 80.

Hell, the guy's celebration can beat me.

It seems odd that your friend would have known to start his stopwatch to time a victory lap that he didn't know was coming. The front page of Runners World shows him jogging in lane one with two of his countrymen waving flags.

Not saying your friend is BS, but there is evidence to suggest a false recollection.