Mohammed Gammoudi of Tunisia is the most underrated and unjustly ignored distance runner of all time. Tell me who else matches these credentials:
Won medals in 3 Olympics (silver 10,000m (1964); gold 5,000m, bronze 10,000m (1968); silver 5,000m (1972)). A few of the recognized “greats” who won medals in 2 Olympics attempted to do it in a third but failed: Zatopek (56), Viren (80), Gebreselassie (04), Tergat (04). What’s more amazing is that it was only bad luck and politics that may have prevented Gammoudi from winning even more medals. He was a strong contender for a medal in the 10,000 in Munich in 72 when he was knocked down and out in the finals in a tie-up with Viren. Later, reports were that he was tuning up for a 4th Olympics in 1976), but was later blocked by an African boycott. If he would have been allowed to run, medaling in four Olympics would have been mind-boggling.
Much has been made of how having the 1968 Olympics at altitude in Mexico City gave an insurmountable advantage to the altitude-born runners from Kenya and Ethiopia, unfairly denying a gold medal to would-be favorites such as Jim Ryun (1500), Ron Clarke (5000 and 10,000), Bill Adcocks (marathon) and George Young (steeplechase). But everone ignores that Gammoudi did not grow-up at altitude and still won the gold in the 5000 (over 2. Kip Keino of Kenya, 3. Naftali Temu of Kenya and 4. Juan Martinez of Mexico, all of whom were born and raised at altitude). Before the 68 Olympics Gammoudi asked Keino if he wanted to train together. Keino passed. Gammoudi took offense and worked hard on his own. He then kicked Keino’s butt at the Games, at altitude.
Gammoudi was also one of the very few who has won a gold medal at International Cross-Country Championships and at the Olympics, and he did it in the same year (1968).
He is now 68 and lives in Tunis, and unfortunately seems to be completely ignored by the running community.