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Miruts Yifter ‘the shifter’ dies
- Updated: December 23, 2016
The exploits of Ethiopian distance runner Miruts Yifter at the 1980 Olympics captured the imagination of the world.
After unleashing an astonishing injection of speed to win the 5000m and 10,000m at the Moscow Games, he was dubbed ‘Yifter the shifter’ and among those inspired by his victories was a seven-year-old boy called Haile Gebrselassie who was following Yifter’s progress on a crackly radio in Ethiopia and dreaming to one day follow in his footsteps.
Along with Abebe Bikila, Mamo Wolde and Kenenisa Bekele, Yifter and Gebrselassie are known as the famous five in distance running-mad Ethiopia. Bikila was the forerunner with his Olympic marathon titles at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics but Yifter went on to play a prominent part in the athletics history of the nation with his amazing double in Moscow.
Yifter was a tiny, balding figure, but appearances can be deceptive and he showed on the grandest stage of all that he possessed one of the most fearsome kick finishes in history. The Moscow Games were dominated by the Seb Coe vs Steve Ovett showdown, but Yifter brought the 5000m and 10,000m races to life with his spectacular ability to change gear when it mattered.
In the 10,000m, Yifter and his team-mates Mohammed Kedir and Tolossa Kotu (pictured from right to left in the image above) surged and slowed during the 25 laps in an attempt to unsettle the defending champion Lasse Viren and fellow Finn Kaarlo Maaninka before Yifter sealed the win with a vicious burst of speed 300m from the finish. Covering his final 200m in 26.8, he took the title in 27:42.69 as Maaninka won silver a couple of seconds behind and Kedir took bronze ahead …
