Because He Couldn't

Why did he make it so darn hard on himself, having to sprint so hard, from so far behind? Why didn't he just stay with the leaders from the start, and then simply outlast them?

The 1972 Olympic 800-Meter race is still considered by many to be one of the greatest come from behind victories of all time. An Ohio boy, Dave Wottle of Canton and Bowling Green State University, was in seemingly out of the realm of possible winners, trailing far behind in last place with 400 meters, and even 200 meters to go. Then Wottle began to pass his competitors, one by one. Even so, he still had an incredible amount of real estate to make up as he entered the final straightaway in a distant fourth place. His final kick over the last few meters is the stuff of legend. His last victim, the favored Soviet runner Evgeny Arzhanov, dove at the finish line, but Wottle stayed upright, and passed him for the gold-medal win. It's all here in this famous video.

Why didn't he just stay with the leaders from the start? Because he couldn't.

Dave Wottle considered himself a 1500 meter runner. He stated that he was only running the 800 to prepare for the 1500, and that he didn't have anywhere near the 400 meter speed of his competitors. He actually ran even splits in the Final, whereas all the others slowed during the second lap.

I think about this race often, especially when I see runners off to a fast start in a race of any distance. Many times, I am unable to stay with those whom I think I ought to be able to beat. Stay with it, I tell myself. Run your own race. They will either come back, or they won't; all you can do is run the best you can, with the knowledge that a steady, even pace most often yields the best results. Be like Dave Wottle, I say.

The Olympic Games were held in Munich, Germany in September, 1972. Forty-five years ago, I watched them, and this race, live. I was as stunned as everyone else. These 1972 Games were also famous for the Israeli Hostage situation, and for Frank Shorter's Marathon win. I recently re-published an article I wrote about the fortieth anniversary that race five years ago. For more information about Wottle, what he's up to now, and his famous painters cap, this article in the Toledo Blade, tells it well.

It's okay to start fast, if you're wired that way. But turtles, take heart. If you run slow and steady, sometimes it works.