Remember Miruts Yifter?

[Seafront Plodder]

I'm sure all of us of a certain age will remember this great little Ethiopian, Yifter The Shifter. He was a 10K runner who earned his nickname through his remarkable turn of speed to blast away from the field. Enjoy the link below. It's the whole race but forward to about 8 minutes to see him destroy the world class field in the last lap of the 10,000 metres - Moscow 1980 Olympics.

Stunning stuff.



http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JrZpT-LXO-8

[Bierzo Baggie]

Excellent. I was a fan of his and of Henry Rono.

At those Moscow Olympics (where he also won the 5000m) nobody seemed to know how old he was. Estimates ranged from early 30s to 40-something. When the journalists asked him his Cantona-esque reply was "Men may steal my chickens; men may steal my sheep. But no man can steal my age"