Rick Wohluter- Why had I never heard of this guy?

Maybe you're very young. Not your fault. Older track fans recognize Wohlhuter's greatness.

If you feel he's so underappreciated, maybe you ought to learn to spell his name correctly

Okay, let's try another.

Dave Wottle!

I'd have to say that Wottle is much better known than Wolhuter.

Wolhuter had tremendous power for such a little guy - he couldn't have been much more than 5'8" and 130 pounds. He looked especially tiny gunning with El Caballo.

The correct answer is Wolhuter never won a gold medal. He did set a world record in the 880. I have the Track and Field News with him on the cover.

I agree he probably is the most underappreciated mid-distance runner. But You would have to be around 45 to remember him. I watched Montreal but was 10 and only remember Juanterena winning and Frank Shorter getting second in the marathon, Nadia Commenci, Bruce Jenner, and Sugar Ray Leonard and the streakers at the closing ceremonies.

Sorry about the misspelling. Not the easiest name to spell ever created. Perhaps thats part of the reason he's not as famous! It doesn't exactly roll of the tongue like Dave Wottle.

Im not that young. I was born in '79 but I feel like I've heard of many other track guys from before I was born, Wottle is a perfect example plus, Pre, Shorter, galloway,santee, ryun,george young, craig virgin, Bill Rodgers, Kenny Moore, liquori,billy mills, Lindgren etc. etc. Ive heard a lot about all those people.

Also I discovered Wohlhuter was track and field news athlete of the year in 1974. That's a rare honor . Jim Ryun is the only other American distance runner to ever receive it.

Shorter was duped! Along with Don Kardong

He had the misfortune of his best year ever (1974) being a non-Olympic year.

Well thanks I'm 17 and you've introduced me to him. No wonder no one knows anything about him look at his Wikipedia page!

I'm older than the OP, but not old enough to be around during Horace Ashenfelter's time. I was reading a hardcover encyclopedia (remember those?) when I was in junior high in the '70s. I saw his name and said, "I gotta learn more about this guy", simply because his name was so interesting.

Horace has an awesome story and is a great person. Turned me into a steeple freak ever since!

He was a household name when I was kid, with Ryun, Liquori, Keino, and Mark Winzenried!

He was a stud, all right, but all the rounds in Montreal hurt him. The 800m was by far his best; 1500 was a little long for him. I always thought his running style was Coe before Coe.

I want it on record that Rick Wohlhuter was hard as ****.

He also showed big cojones in the ferocious and fantastic Montreal 8 final. All American distance runners should study RW's tactics in the 8. Wolhuter didn't win the race but he gave a masterclass in total commitment at the right moment and giving everything when it counted. He tried to give it to Juantorena and had zip left just before the finish line. It took a WR to beat him and there's just nothing more he could have done, there's no better tactic he could have used. Not many athletes can say that about their Olympic performances. R-e-s-p-e-c-t!

While we're on the subject, the 1976 800 final was a rare gem. In few races, especially 800s, have we seen such total commitment from so many. A number of the other athletes also delivered career-topping performances; Juantorena, Sriram Singh and Van Damme as well as Rick W.

As for putting his career into perspective, it wasn't just that his best year was the non-champ year, in the US at least, of 74. His best distance was also the kilo, neither the 8 nor the 15. His former km WR was described by another famed athlete as a "hard" record. Sebastian Coe made that statement before gunning for it at Oslo in 1980. He was also unjustly overshadowed by Pre in the earlier part of his career.

Wohlhuter gave it everything in the 76 OG 800. No disgrace in his performance there. He would have contended for the 15 win if he hadn't contested the 8, although VanDamme would have been right there with him.

John Walker had no right to win the 76 OG 1500 against RW and IvD or even Coghlan. But he prevailed by force of mind and excellent tactics, catching everyone flat-footed down the backstretch even though they should have expected his move.

In the 15, I think RW was burned out by the rounds and by the previous savagery of the way the Montreal 800 was run in all of its rounds. He did still pick up Olympic hardware in his main event, which is as always much easier said than done (Rupp, Webb, Kennedy, etc.)

Wohlhuter was a big and well known name in the track world in the 70s. Every bit as well known as Alan Webb, Galen Rupp are today, particularly given the fact there was no internet or anything close to it at the time.

He ran back when americans had the attention span to run 2 laps instead of just one.

If Webb is in form this summer, it would be great to see him and Wheating in a 1000m set up for a shot at the record on American soil. Either the Prefontaine meet or the Adidas GP in New York.

Won't be easy but it's about time.

An often over-looked fact - he was a Munich Olympian, edging Jim Ryun out of a spot in the 800. He must have run in the 1:44's at 1972 trials.

How good was he at Notre Dame?

You are right about the kilo; it was the perfect distance for him. Amazing that he still holds the AR - from 1974!

free beer wrote:

I agree he probably is the most underappreciated mid-distance runner. But You would have to be around 45 to remember him. I watched Montreal but was 10 and only remember Juanterena winning and Frank Shorter getting second in the marathon, Nadia Commenci, Bruce Jenner, and Sugar Ray Leonard and the streakers at the closing ceremonies.

I am a little younger than that and I do not remember Rick or any of the Montreal Olympics. I started following Track and Field a little later. Being somebody with a keen sense of history I have read about him for many years but have no contemporary memory.