The Fall of Jim Ryun

He raced like a lot of US guys did and do. At the back with the scrubs. Then surprised when they trip and fall.

He was so much better than the rest of US runners that he never learned to race properly. He moved right when there wasn't enough room. Fell.

That's racing. There was never any question that he would be allowed a free birth in the next round. They didn't do that back then for those who lollygag at the back and fall.

I was in the stadium and watched it. Disappointed to not see his best. Never gave it a second thought in all these years.

Imagine my "surprise " reading about this latest crybaby post.

You should be asking yourself if crap tactical running is a US trait.

Lok to the guys like Billy Mills et al for inspiration. They were racers

I remember the '72 olympics very well. As someone else said, it was the first olympics that I followed completely.

There were some strange/tragic events. The sprinters being misinformed about their heat, and that unbelievable fiasco with the US basketball team.

Of course the hostage situation above all.

It appeared, to me, that Ryun WAS politically shafted.

Ryun's coach(es) failed him also; did they not coach him to not run in the back of the pack; they failed him in 68 too, did they not coach/train him to prepare for Mexico City altitude, or train/coach him about Keino's possible tactics (they must have known keino was very likely to go out fast since keino must have known he could not out kick Ryun) , and why did they not have Ryun run 800 meters in Mex city , he was world record holder, and the altitude would not have been such a factor, big failure by USA coaches

1) Ryun ran one of the half-dozen greatest 1500s in history (to that point) at Mexico City. He was beaten by (IMO) the greatest.
Keino was ill in that Olympics and was advised not to run the 1500 final. I've long believed that he probably received a blood transfusion before the final--not intended to improve performance (we didn't know much about blood packing at that time), simply part of his medical treatment--and ended up running his lifetime-fastest 1500. Never ran as fast at sea level.

2) Ryun worked with Bob Timmons and Jack Daniels. Daniels did a great job of preparing Ryun to run 59s, which they both thought would be good enough to win. (And should have been.)
Ryun (we stayed in the same NAU dorm that summer of '68) had been badly sick with mono in the fall/winter and was still recovering as the OG approached. TBH I never thought the gold was in the cards for Jim and he excelled himself to beat Bodo and Norpoth for silver. Jim also finished the race in enormous physical distress and believed he was going to die. (And when he passed Bodo on the last lap to move into second, he glanced at the German and saw that his eyes had rolled up into his head. Very tough race for everybody, except maybe Keino.)

3) Trying only for one event at the OG was a conscious decision made very early, again in response to the reality of Jim's health situation. FWIW he ran an 800 at an all-comers meet in Flagstaff in July and negative-split a 1:47.9. I watched the race and remember being very impressed, but by the same token he was a long way from the WR 880 that he had run in 1:44.9 (also negative split, with a 51.6 second quarter) at sea level.

4) Ryun did try to double the 800 and 1500 in 1972, but finished fourth in the 800 at the OT. Dave Wottle won that race and tied the WR.

The thread title had me thinking that this was about politics / GOP / Trumpiness.

Carry on.

What are you talking about? Ryun didn't run for the Senate in 2004, he ran for re-election the House and won.

...received a blood transfusion before the final--notintended to improve performance (we didn't know much about blood packing at that time), simply part of his medical treatment--...

My guess is if you're traveling around with your own blood in a bag--pretty likely you know it's performance enhancing

Not the point of the post at all, it was merely a hypothetical.

The pole vault was pretty flaky, too.

1) Ryun never made an Olympic team in the 800m. In the 1968 trials he ran 2:02.6 for 7th place according to the Track and Field News "A History of the US Olympic Trials (1896-2016)" results. In 1972 he came in 4th.

2) Mono and pulled hamstring before Mexico City meant he was not at his best.

How in the world did Jim Ryun run only 2:02.6 in the 800? There are high school girls nowadays that run faster than that.

Per Track and Field News and their excellent site:

In the final Hunt led out to the 300m mark, when Winzenried took over, passing the bell in 52.8 with Farrell last in 53.5. A smart tactician, Farrell eased through gaps on the inside, passing Hunt and Kutchinski and took the lead coming into the finishing straight. Ryun, who had been suffering from mononucleosis throughout the summer, was on the outside in third place but gave up on the final curve when he realized his fitness and acceleration was deficient; behind him Wade Bell had to swerve to avoid colliding with Ryun, and was never able to threaten Farrell, though second was safe. Third place was a real battle with Kutchinski tying up a little less than Winzenried, edging him 1:47.8 to 1:47.9. Farrell finished off his career with a pb 1:45.46 in taking the Olympic bronze medal.

Thanks for the info and correction. I honestly had completely forgotten about Jim's effort in the 1968 OT 800.

I'm a big Jim Ryun fan, and as much as it pains me, he caused the fall. If you watch the video closely, JR begins to drift to the outside and subsequently cuts off the runner behind him who inadvertently trips him up.

Sorry!

Yes, "upon further review" I too agree with BW. I still think a runner in that position would be advanced nowadays, but Billy Fordjour was at least as much a victim as JR.

Agreed all around. That must have been surreal, as a lower-ranked entrant who was probably just excited to run in the Olympics, to be tripped by one of the world's very best and have your experience end along with his. I wonder what Fordjour thinks of the whole debacle. That was his only Olympic appearance, and at any rate Ghana boycotted the next two so he couldn't have gone back until LA 84, on the off-chance he could have stayed at an elite level that long anyway.

Isn't there a theory he was paid to trip Ryun by the Kenyans?

Though he was just 25 he was five years past his prime. Was developed too intensely in hs. Dropped out of races, lost big races, stopped setting prs. A word of caution to teens hoping for long running careers.....