Aun, Holdorf and Walde on the podium of Tokyo 1964 – da:theolympians.co
Article by John Manenti
Many athletics specialties have seen – partly excluding throws, with the exception of the shot put, and road races – at least until the end of the 1960s, the almost undisputed predominance of the representatives of the United States, including the Decathlon, which, since its inclusion in the Olympic Program in the Stockholm 1912 edition and up to the Rome Games included, has always seen a US athlete climb onto the podiumin addition to winning the Gold Medal on 8 of the 10 occasions available in that period …
Ad stand out, in particular, are Bob Mathias – the first decathlete capable of repeating his Olympic triumph, winning both in 1948 in London and four years later in Helsinki – and Rafer Johnson, who won silver in Melbourne 1956 behind his compatriot Milt Campbell (preceded by Mathias four years earlier in the Finnish capital…) adds Gold to the Rome Games, enhanced by the world record with 8,683 points at the conclusion of an epic challenge with Taiwanese representative Yang Chuan-kwang.
Furthermore, it is not uncommon for a period of great protagonists to be followed by lean seasons, and this seeale also for the inexhaustible reservoir of US Athletics whichafter Johnson’s retirement, failed for five years to produce a decathlete capable of entering the top of the specialty…
On the other hand, in the Old Continent, the Soviet star shines Vasily Kuznetsov who, in addition to challenging Johnson for the overall lead – establishes two, with 8,014 points in mid-May 1958 and with 8,357 exactly one year later in Moscow – won three consecutive editions (Bern 1954, Stockholm 1956 and Belgrade 1962) of the European Championships, as well as completing the podium in the remembered editions of the Olympics in Melbourne 1956 and Rome 1960.
The only other European country to shine in this specialty is West Germany, whose main exponent at the turn of the 60s was Werner von Moltke, who won the national title in 1958, and then came second for three consecutive editions (1961-63) which saw Willi Holdorf triumph in 1961 and 1963while in 1962 the title was won by Manfred Bock…
In view of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, I am right von Moltke and Bock to install Kuznetsov in his attempt to seize the continental hat trick at the 1962 European Championships in Belgradean attempt that almost became reality when the now 30-year-old Soviet was saved only thanks to the last test on m.1500 which allows him to overtake (p.7.653 to 7.617) von Moltke by just 36 pointswith Bock taking bronze with 7,562 points, while Holdorf finished no better than fifth with 7,355.
A “scombussolare” van Moltk’s plans come to fruition National championships held at the beginning of August 1963 in Augsburg, where Holdorf precedes him clearly exceeding (p.8,085 to 7,309) the “8,000 point barrier” and, above all, the subsequent ones that are staged in the same period in Berlin, where the 22-year-old begins to make his mark on the German scene Hans-Joachim Walde who, with his 8,082 points, precedes Horst Beyer by only 56 points, so that the Federation decides to send the latter to the Japanese capital together with Holdorf, who finished in third place…
Across the ocean, after that the 1963 AAU Championships were won by Steve Pauly with 7,852 points and the following year by Paul Herman with 7,794from the Olympic Trials comes out a trio for Tokyo composed by the same Herman, first with p.7,853 and Russ Hodge, third with p.7,678, while in place of the second place Don Jeisy, who does not have the minimum to participate in the Games, Richard Emberger was chosen.
But the most significant aspect of the multiple tests held in the United States derives from the fact that the aforementioned also participates in them Yang, as he is enrolled at the prestigious UCLA in Los Angeleswho intends to turn in his favor the curious circumstance that, in the last two editions of the Games, the Gold Medal was won by the person who had won the silver in the previous one…
And, surely, the representative of Taiwan, even though he has just crossed the threshold of 30 years, would have all the credentials to make such a prediction, given that he is the best (even though logically out of competition …) both at the AAU Championships in late June in New Brunswick and at the Trials in mid-September in Los Angeles, with p.8,641just 42 points behind Johnson’s record.
It is therefore expected – when the 22 registered athletes show up on the morning of October 19, 1964 on the tracks and platforms of the “Olympic Stadium” in Tokyo –a challenge between the Old Continent (led by German and Soviet specialists) and the aforementioned Yang, with the more than legitimate doubt of verifying whether or not the three Americans will be able to confirm the tradition that wants at least one of them to climb onto the podium…
Never has a prediction been so accurate, in the sense that the The first 10 places in the Final Ranking are occupied by the three representatives of Germany, the United States and the Soviet Unionwith the only “prestige intruder” obviously made up of Yang, who also appears in Japan havingor improved at the end of April 1963 in Walnut with p.9.121 the world record becoming the first (and only…) in the history of Decathlon to overcome “quota 9,000 points”, as the table is subsequently modified.
It only remains to establish the relative order and here there is no shortage of surprises, with a to be preferred in the initial 100m competition by Holdorf who runs the distance in 10″7 compared to the 10″9 of Kuznetsov and the other Soviet Rein Aunwhile Yang, Walde and the American Hodge stopped the clock at 11”0…
For the three Americans the second test of Long jump is detrimental, as the best are the Soviets Aun and Mykhail Storozhenko with 7.22 m, followed by Walde with 7.21 m and the other two Germans Beyer and Holdorf which however only reach 7.01m and 7.00m respectively, while Yang does even worse, stopping at 6.80m.
However, the gaps are still minimal and become longer on the occasion of the Shot put that sends Storozhenko to the lead thanks to a better measurement of 16.37 m clearly superior to all other opponents, so that after three tests he finds himself at the command with 2,537 points, followed by Holdorf with 2,485 and Walde at 2,423, while Yang’s tenth position, over 270 points behind, is surprising…
Storozhenko maintains first position even after the High Jump, but sees his margin over Walde significantly reduced to just 8 points (3,253 to 3,245).who is the best in this test having exceeded the bar set at 1.96 m and the Estonian born Aun takes the medal zone with 3,206 points, having overtaken Holdorf who totaled 3,201.
First day which ends with the 400 meters which allow Holdorf, who achieved the best time of 48″2, to regain the lead of the provisional ranking with 4,090 points and a margin of 16 points over his compatriot Walde and 23 over Aunwhile Storozhenko (the worst with 53”6) slips to fifth position and both Yang and Kuznetsov – the two big favourites on the eve – disappoint, occupying just ninth and tenth position with 3,803 and 3,793 points respectively …
Everything is still up for grabs, especially with regard to the awarding of medals, with Yang and Kuznetsov showed signs of awakening at the start of the second day, setting (with their respective times of 14”7 and 14”9) the first and third best performances in the 110m hurdles.so as to gain two positions each, while at the top Holdorf increases (4,938 to 4,891) its margin over Walde, as well as over Aun, third at 4,824.
A sort of “derby tedesco” that the 24 year old Holdorf is turning things in his favor, increasing his lead to 101 points (5,739 to 5,638) thanks to his 46.05m in the discus throw over Walde.now also pursued by Aun, who has reached 5,590 points, just as Beyer has climbed to fourth place, currently boasting 5,521 points which are worth fourth place …
The American trio is definitely separated, with the best being Herman, sixth with 5,468 points, on par with Kuznetsov and Yang who occupy just seventh and eighth position, when the race is scheduled. Pole vault, very favorable to the silver of Rome, but which, following the change in the fiberglass tool, with consequent increase in the height achieved – and consequent disparity in scores compared to the other 9 specialties – had seen the IAAF remodulate the relevant table at the beginning of 1964.
This penalized Yang – who with the old table had achieved the aforementioned world record – which, despite obtaining the best result of 4.60m can only go up two positions occupying the sixth place, equal to Kuzmetsov who moves up to fifthwhile at the top Holdorf “has”, actually increasing (6,598 to 6,470) its margin over Walde to 128 pointswith Aun firmly in third place at 6,449, while “sinks” Beyer, who does not go beyond 3.80 m, slipping to eighth position …
With only two tests to go, Holdorf seems to have done the most, even if in the The Javelin Throw was the worst of his team with 57.37 m, unlike Walde who, throwing the implement at 62.90 m, reduced the gap from the top to just 60 points (7.326 to 7.266).with Aun – author of a very regular race – remaining in third position at 7,199, while belated attempt to enter the medal zone for both Yang – still the best with a throw of 68.15m) – that for Kuznetsov, now up to fourth and fifth position, divided (7.176 to 7.175) by a single length.
Everything is decided with the grueling and final test on m.1500, which logically sees Holdorf do the race on Walde, and then overtake him in the final so as to secure the Gold Medal with 7,887 pointswhile his compatriot is mocked byto Aun who, with the second best time of 4’22”3, obtains an unexpected silver with 7,842 points compared to the 7,809 of German …
Despite the disappointment of Yang and Kuznetsov – fifth and seventh respectively with 7,650 and 7,569 points – the honor of the United States is saved by Herman, who finishes fourth at 7,787 points, thus failing to reach the medals by just 22 pointsthus interrupting a tradition favorable to their country that had lasted for over 50 years.
It remains to say that for Holdorf is his only success in a major international eventas well as for Aun silver remains his only podium at Olympic and/or continental level, while the best career continuation comes for Walde, who in addition to the European bronze in 1971 in Helsinki, also won silver at the 1968 Mexico City Gameswhere the US takes back the scepter thanks to Bill Toomey …
As if to say that Holdorf has grasped “the right opportunity at the right time”, and this also requires a certain amount of skill…
2024-06-30 19:10:35
#WILLI #HOLDORFS #GOLD #DECATHLON #TOKYO #PODIUM #AMERICANS #SportHistoria
