Lasse Virén
| Olympic medal record | ||
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| Men's Athletics | ||
Representing  Finland
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1972 Munich | 5.000 metres |
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1972 Munich | 10.000 metres |
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1976 Montreal | 5.000 metres |
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1976 Montreal | 10.000 metres |
| European Championships | ||
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1974 Rome | 5.000 metres |
Lasse Artturi Virén (born July 22, 1949) is a former Finnish athlete, winner of four gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics and 1976 Summer Olympics. He had an uncanny ability to peak at the Summer Olympic Games.
Born in Myrskylä, Finland, Lasse Virén recaptured the image of the "Flying Finns" promoted by runners like Hannes Kolehmainen, Paavo Nurmi, and Ville Ritola in the 1920s.
A police officer from Myrskylä, Virén debuted on the international scene in 1971. His performances at the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki were overshadowed by fellow Finn Juha Väätäinen, who captured gold medals in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter events with Virén settling for modest 7th and 17th placings, respectively.
Buoyed by a brutal training regimen in Thompson Falls, Kenya, and very impressive results, which included the smashing of the 2-mile world record and wins against Great Britain and Spain in a meet held in Helsinki in the summer of 1972, Lasse Virén entered the Munich games as a dark horse.
1972 Summer Olympics
At the 1972 Summer Olympics at Munich, Virén won both the 5,000 and the 10,000 meter events. At the 10,000 meter final held on September 3rd, Virén broke Ron Clarke's 7-year old world record despite falling in the twelfth lap after getting tangled with Frank Shorter. In less than a lap, Virén caught up with the leading pack, after losing about 100 meters. With 600 meters to go, Virén dropped the hammer and started an unprecedented lap-and-a-half kick that only Belgium's Emiel Puttemans was able to respond to, but not outmatch. The Finn won the race in 27:38:40. He became the fourth athlete to win both events in the same Olympics, joining Hannes Kolehmainen (1912), Emil Zátopek (1952), Vladimir Kuts (1956) and, after them, as a fifth (and last) Miruts Yifter (1980).
1976 Summer Olympics
Virén ran at lower levels between the Olympics. At the 1976 Summer Olympics, Virén again won both events, becoming the only repeat winner of the 5,000 meter race in Olympic history. In the 5,000 meter final, he held off all-time greats Dick Quax, Rod Dixon, and Brendan Foster (all world-class at 1,500 m) with a devastating display of front-running over the last few laps. To those who watched him, the display was awesomely inspiring to the point that his last 1,500 meters in that final would have placed him 4th in the 1,500-meter final held at those Games. Remarkably, 18 hours after the 5,000-meter final, he competed in the men's marathon and finished fifth in 2:13:11.
1980 Summer Olympics
Lasse Virén ended his career after the 1980 Summer Olympics, where he placed fifth in the 10,000 meters. Quite ironically, Virén failed to qualify for that final having clocked a disappointing 28:45 in his heat. Only after Ireland's John Treacy collapsed during his heat, due to heat stroke, was Virén given a second chance as a wild-card qualifier. He pushed that final's leading pack until the last 300 meters, before succumbing to the lethal kick of Miruts Yifter, the eventual gold medalist.
Training and Rumors
Virén's wins were not without controversy. Firstly, following his 10,000 meter final win at the Montreal games, he took off his shoes and waved them to the crowd on his victory lap. The International Olympic Committee accused Virén of malicious intent, such as showing the logo on the shoes, but he claimed that he had a blister. Thus, the IOC suspended Virén from taking place in the 5,000-meter final after qualifying in his heat. An appeal followed and he was allowed to enter the race, two hours before gun time.
Additionally, Virén was alleged to have been involved in the practice of blood boosting which involves freezing blood plasma, then having it returned to the body later to improve the oxygen content by increasing the white cell count. The practice was legal at the time but many still considered it cheating on moral grounds. Virén himself has never acknowledged any involvement in this practice. In fact, he was once offered $1 million by a magazine to reveal the truth of that matter. When he explained that the truth was that he never doped, the magazine turned down the offer. Virén figured he could only tell the truth.
Virén, with his coach Rolf Haikkola, prepared with one focus in mind: coming to a peak for the Olympics. He accumulated thousands of kilometres of running in his local forests and in winter training destinations, running at gradually increasing intensities over intervening years to prepare a huge foundation from which to peak with his anaerobic work. All else was considered only as preparation: even European championships.
Critics say Viren did little of note between Olympics in competition; however, in 1974, between his Olympic double victories, he won a bronze medal in 5,000m at the European championships behind the British athlete Brendan Foster in a time of 13:24.57. Only two days later, at Helsinki, Virén won a 5,000 m race in 13:26.0, defeating Anders Gärderud (Sweden), and Olympic finalist Steve Prefontaine (USA). Only three days after, Virén again encountered Foster in a 2 mile (3.2 km) race at the Coca-Cola international meeting in London (Crystal Palace). Foster was again victorious, with Virén finishing an unlucky fourth, only 0.06 seconds behind second place. Virén recorded his fastest 10,000 m with a time of 28:22.6 when he was the winner at a Finland vs. Soviet Union international match on 21 September. Furthermore, Virén managed to break the world record in the 2-mile and the 5,000 meters outside the Olympics.
Years later, Virén competed in New Zealand in 1979 and ran the summer international series there, competing solidly, while in the midst of his endurance base for the Moscow Olympics.
Since his career ended he has become a well-known figure in Finland, eventually winning a seat in the Finnish Parliament with the National Coalition Party 1999 - 2007.
External links
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