Brendan Foster

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Brendan Foster CBE (born January 12, 1948 in Hebburn , Tyne and Wear ) is a former English athlete who was internationally successful on running distances from 1500 to 10,000 meters. In the 10,000-meter run he won the bronze medal at the 1976 Olympic Games and in 1974 was European champion in the 5,000-meter run. Since the end of his career he has been working as a television commentator, organizer and businessman.

Athletic career

The 1.78 m tall runner began his international career at the British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970 . In the 1500 meter run he was third behind Kipchoge Keino and Dick Quax in 3: 40.6 minutes . A year later at the European Championships in Helsinki he also won bronze in 3: 39.2 minutes, this time behind Francesco Arese and Henryk Szordykowski . In Munich at the 1972 Olympic Games , he finished fifth in 3: 39.0 minutes. After that, he turned to longer and longer distances as his career progressed.

After setting a world record over 2 miles in 8: 13.68 minutes in 1972, he set a world record over 3,000 meters in 7: 35.2 minutes when the track opened in Gateshead's new stadium in 1974 . He had already won silver over 5000 meters at the British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch in 1974 in 13: 14.6 minutes, just 0.3 seconds behind Kenyan Ben Jipcho . He finished seventh over 1500 meters in Christchurch in 3: 37.64 minutes. In September at the European Championships in Rome, he won the title over 5000 meters in 13: 17.2 minutes with almost seven seconds ahead of Manfred Kuschmann and Lasse Virén . His new championship record was 15 seconds below Juha Väätäinen's previous record, despite the heat and high humidity . Brendan Foster was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1974.

At the end of the 1975 season, Brendan Foster made his debut at Crystal Palace Stadium on the 10,000 meter distance. With 27: 45.43 minutes he immediately achieved a time that put him in 7th place on the all-time best list, just 15 seconds above the world record of his compatriot David Bedford .

At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Foster competed both over 5000 meters and over 10,000 meters. On the long distance he won the bronze medal in 27: 54.92 minutes behind Lasse Virén and Carlos Lopes . Over 5000 meters there was one of the closest finishings in Olympic history. In 13: 26.19 minutes, Foster was fifth, just one and a half seconds behind the winner, Virén. In 1976 Brendan Foster was awarded the Order of Member of the British Empire .

In early August 1978, Foster won the 10,000 meter run at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton in 28: 13.65 minutes. Over 5000 meters he was third behind the Kenyans Henry Rono and Mike Musyoki in 13: 31.35 minutes. Three weeks later at the European Championships in Prague, he lacked the strength in the final sprint of a very fast 10,000-meter run. In 27: 32.7 minutes he was fourth, 1.7 seconds behind the winner Martti Vainio .

Foster reached his last grand final at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. In 28: 22.6 minutes he was eleventh in the 10,000 meter run.

Best times

Career after sport

Foster had already graduated from the University of Sussex with a chemistry degree during his career . After his sports career, he spent seven years with the US sporting goods manufacturer Nike , where he rose relatively quickly to the top of Nike Europe . In 1988 he founded his own company for sportswear and event marketing, Nova International , of which he is still chairman today.

In addition to his business career, he has always remained connected to athletics. He continues to comment on major athletics events for the BBC to this day . In 1981 he had the idea for an athletics event in Newcastle. The Great North Run has been one of the most important half marathons in the world for years .

Brendan Foster has also been Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University since 2005 .

(Status: 2007)

literature

  • Peter Matthews, Ian Buchanan: All-Time Greats of British and Irish Sport . Enfield 1995 ISBN 0-85112-678-2
  • Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Field Athletics . Berlin 1999, published by the German Society for Athletics Documentation eV

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Foster, Brendan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English athlete
DATE OF BIRTH January 12, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Hebburn , Tyne and Wear