Emiel Putteman and Dave Bedford Could Have Broken World 10,000m Record in 1972 Olympic Heats?

Bill Huntington wrote:

Viren attended BYU for a year; 1969 or 70, as I recall. I also recall reading that he didn't learn a word of English while he was there, but that can't be true, can it?

Viren & Pekki Vasala attended BYU January thru March 1970. Not a good fit for either of them. Viren himself said "way too much running on the 'crete". That is a facvt.

Viren was certainly capable of sub 13:10 at peak based on his 8:14 WR 2 mile in Stockholm.

The Munich games ended on a Sunday.....the next Friday evening in wet & windy Helsinki he ran 13:16 flat for a new WR.

Now you tell me.......

I could share a few words on Viren and his time in 1969-1970 season in Provo as a foreign student based on material that most non-Finnish speakers are not familiar with.

As there are almost literally millions of kilometers of un-paved road in Finland, it came as a shock for Lasse Viren and Pekka Vasala that everything was paved in the States as Finns had used to run in forests and un-paved roads in the countryside. Vasala also mentions that there were some other problems as coffee drinking (Finns are known to be caffeine-addicts) was not encouraged in the Mormon city.

Viren tells in his 1973 memoirs that "There were a lot Finnish-speakers there, which is on the other hand good and on the other hand bad thing. It is good that you have a lot of companions to discuss with, but bad for exactly the same reason as there was no need to learn the language as it would've been if you were alone". He tells that he learnt "some kind of basics" of English. I had the impression that he always preferred to use an interpreter with the foreign press.

Viren also tells that hated the asphalt roads. "When I returned to Finland by the mid-summer fest, my feet hurt so much at the side of the shinbone that when starting to walk I had to walk at my feet rotated".

He attended his first post-return 5K race a week later where he was 12th and lost not also to other competitors but also to his performances years earlier with a pathetic time of 14:53.6.

That raised serious questions on his time in the States as there apparently were great hopes that he would improve in the States as he was capable in sub-14 min 5K times and he was also the 1969 Finnish champion for the event.

Hi Dorando, just come across your ( 4 year old!) comments, what interested me is I was a student at Portsmouth Polytechnic then and watched Dave Bedford on that cinder track and on a scorching hot day become the second ever person to get below 28 min. I remember his red socks wizzing round and round , he looked unbeatable when against the clock but doubts crept in when he was up against the best in the world.

Bedford European 10k record, Portsmouth 1971

https://youtu.be/kraiMbRQtFc

Bedford World 10k Record Crystal Palace 1973

https://youtu.be/6TFV0jjRrug

European Champs 1971 Helsinki 10k - one of the best last laps you will ever see. Bedford finished 6th.

https://youtu.be/Sfm_lTSOjhI

Bedford with 85 had one of the highest ever VO2 max readings, even higher than Pre.

That was 44years ago. Let it go. Its over Johnny. Its over!

Bye bye

Bedford breaking UK steeplechase record:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPCSrFZ0uRI&t=1m59s

justas wrote:

Bedford breaking UK steeplechase record:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPCSrFZ0uRI&t=1m59s

Cool - I've never seen that before. Must have been the only time Bedford ever won a sprint finish!

Clip of Beford winning the 1972 5000m at the AAA Champs in 13.17.21 and then the following day winning the 10000m in 27.52.44.

https://youtu.be/VYSG3A7wuQE

Sir Bastion Newbold wrote:

justas wrote:

Bedford breaking UK steeplechase record:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPCSrFZ0uRI&t=1m59s

Cool - I've never seen that before. Must have been the only time Bedford ever won a sprint finish!

Like Bedford, Andy Holden was a real character:

He reputedly drank 10 pints of beer the night before winning the Bermuda marathon in 1979 ... At his peak, he achieved an ambition to run 100 miles and drink 100 pints in a single week; and he would regularly perform an after-race trick of drinking a pint while standing on his head — once while he was up a tree. The great Olympian Steve Cram once said to him: “I wish I was an athlete in your day — it sounded much more fun.”

Dorando wrote:

I never did really understand Bedford. Who remembers his National XC win (and earlier when he won the Southern Junior AND Senior XC champs ON THE SAME DAY!)It was my era - I watched him run at Portsmouth 27.4x on the dirt, then his 27:30 WR on TV. This at a time when very few were even under 28:30.

See him in those races and he was absolutely fearless. I saw that same look in the Munich heat, where I think if Puttyfeet had not been there to distract him he could easily have broken the WR.

Then.....he looked like a different guy in the finals. How someone could be so far off their best I just don't know.

I think Bedford was only 22 at those games. By the time he became more experienced injury had effectively finished his career.

p jones wrote:

http://www.highgateharriers.org.uk/hh_aa_interviews.php?i=201#i201

Blimey, mate ,some great links on there!