Miruts Yifter passed away today in .....Canada? So the story goes. Double winner of the 5000 and 10,000 meters at the Moscow Olympics 1980, Yifter was one of the early and great Ethiopean runners along with Abebe Bikila and Mamo Wolde who would inspire the modern day Ethiopians. I had no idea about his Canadian residency as reported in the story below. Further reading on news releases say he emigrated to Canada 16 years ago and was living in Toronto when he passed away from respiratory problems. His finishes in races were absolutely devastating to anyone still on the same lap with him.
Yifter the Shifter
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| I took this pictute of Miruts Yifter at the Montreal Pre Olympic Meet in 1975 |
More unpublished pictures of Yifter can be seen on this posting from our blog three years ago. They were taken by Jim Gerard of Kettering, Ohio.
Springbank Road Races
1 comment:
Sorry to hear of the passing of Mirus Yifter, probably the best all-time kicker in distance running history. I saw him run at Duke University at the USA/Pan-African dual meet about 1972. On Friday he kicked one lap too early against Steve Prefontaine so he lost. On Saturday, on a 90+ day, he ran the 10K against Frank Shorter, stride for stride the entire way. With a lap to go they were even. Shorter ran 57 on his final lap but lost by 7 seconds to Yifter who ran 51.7. Yifter's final 200 was in 23.6, faster than John Smith's final 200 in the 400 that same day. He was a treat to watch.
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