Alberto COVA

Alberto Cova had an uncanny knack of always winning the 10000m event at major international championships, usually with the willing assistance of his rivals. Cova had a devastating sprint finish, and the only way that his opponents could hope to nullify his kick was to set a fast tempo, but time and time again, they allowed the pace to dawdle, playing right into Cova's hands. At the 1982 European Championships in Athens, Cova used his sprint finish to great effect, snatching a surprise victory from East German favourite Werner Schildhauer in 27min 41.03sec. In 1983, Alberto set what eventually would become his career-best time of 27min 39.59sec when he finished second to Fernando Mamede (Portugal) at Lausanne on 30 June.

Although Cova was considered one of the potential medalists at the inaugural World Championships held later that year in Helsinki, he was by no means an overwhelming favourite, as five athletes who competed at Helsinki had much faster times for the season than Cova's newly-created career best. However, in the Helsinki final on 9 August, the men with faster times allowed the pace to dawdle, with nothing really happening until 600 metres to go. At that point, Schildhauer broke away from the leading pack which still numbered thirteen, and headed for home. The last lap was run at a furious pace, with only four athletes managing to stay in contact with Schildhauer. With only 30 metres to go, any of the five could have possibly won, but then Cova, in fifth place, burst past the other four in a devastating sprint to win the gold medal in a slow overall time of 28min 01.04sec. His last 300 metres however, had been covered in only 38.7 seconds, and he thoroughly deserved the accolades he received on his victory lap (see photo above). (Ron Casey)

Alberto Cova had established his reputation as a devastating sprint finisher at the 1982 European Championships in Athens. He further enhanced this reputation at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, where he outsprinted his rivals to win the 10000m after the majority of the race had been run at a dawdling pace. As the Los Angeles Olympic Games approached in 1984, it was interesting to speculate whether Cova's opponents would try to dampen his finishing kick by setting a fast pace, or to again set a slow pace and serve up the gold medal to Cova on a platter. The 10, 000m final at Los Angeles on August 6 began at an even slower pace than at Helsinki the year before, and it seemed that none of Cova's rivals with much faster personal best times had learned their lesson.

The field strolled through the halfway mark in 14min 21sec, but then the pace picked up appreciably, primarily due to Martii Vainio (Finland). Vainio surged through the 7th kilometre in a very fast 2min 41sec, dropping everyone in his wake except Cova. However, although he had employed the right tactic against Cova, Vainio could not sustain his own fast pace, and around the last bend on the final lap, Cova effortlessly swept past him and sprinted to the line to win easily in 27min 47.54sec. Although the last 5000m had been run in a superfast 13min 27.0sec, Cova seemed hardly puffed as he took a well-deserved victory (see photo above 6/8/84.  G.H. ©). In the 10000m at the 1986 European Championships at Stuttgart, Cova was beaten at his own game, when he was out kicked by compatriot Stefano Mei on the last lap. Cova was never again a dominant force after that, and at the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988, he came 10th in his heat and failed to qualify for the final. (Ron Casey)