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Dieter Baumann was one of the few non-African athletes who were able to
seriously challenge the African dominance of middle-distance running
during the 1990s. Baumann was equally adept at both the 1500m and 5000m
distances, and his progression in both events paralleled each other
over the years. After he was eliminated in the heats of the 5000m at
the European Championships in 1986, Dieter came second in the 3000m at
the European Indoor Championships in February 1987, and was then
eliminated in the semi-finals of the 1500m at the World Championships in
Rome later that year. Although his times improved during the early
part of 1988, few considered Baumann a medal chance at the Seoul Olympic
Games held later that year.
The 5000m final at Seoul was stolen by
John Ngugi (Kenya) who broke away from the field early in the race.
However, Baumann used his superior 1500m speed to outsprint the rest of
the field in the final lap to win the silver medal in a new personal
best of 13min 15.52sec. Baumann missed most of the 1990 season due to
tendon trouble, but he returned in 1991 to finish 4th in the 5000m at
the World Championships in Tokyo. In June 1992, Baumann reduced his
personal best over 5000m to 13min 09.03sec, two months prior to the
Barcelona Olympic Games. The 5000m final at Barcelona on 8 August,
started at a fast pace, but then slowed, increasing Baumann's advantage
due to his finishing kick. However, he got boxed in amongst four
African runners in the back straight of the last lap, and was only able
to get out into the clear coming into the home straight. From there,
Baumann launched into a devastating sprint, passing each of the four
runners in turn to just win the gold medal (see photo above). (Ron Casey)
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