Gelindo BORDIN

Although he had finished fifth in the 10000m at the World Student Games as far back as 1979, Gelindo Bordin didn't start to produce world class performances in athletics until he ran his first marathon at Milan on 7 October 1984. Gelindo not only produced a very fast time on debut of 2hr 13min 20sec, but he also won the race. The next year, Bordin lowered his personal best to 2hr 11min 29sec when he finished 12th in the World Marathon Cup at Hiroshima on 14 April. His big breakthrough came at the 1986 European Championships at Stuttgart on 30 August 1986. Welshman Steve Jones had established a huge lead of 2 minutes at the 20km mark, but Bordin gradually worked his way up to the lead, and went on to win the gold medal (see photo above) by 3 seconds from compatriot Orlando Pizzolato. Bordin's time was a personal best of 2hr 10min 54sec.

Now that Bordin had beaten the best in Europe, he was ready to take on the best in the world. The marathon at the 1987 World Championships in Rome was held on a very hot day with 83% humidity, and Bordin wisely held back from the leaders in the early stages. He gradually worked his way up to the lead pack by 35km, but just as he caught them, a smaller group of three broke away. Bordin continued to run a controlled race at his own pace, and he eventually caught the third of the breakaways, Australian Steve Moneghetti, just before the entering the stadium, and went on to win the bronze medal in 2hr 12min 40 sec. On 18 April 1988, he reduced his personal best by nearly a minute and a half, when he finished fourth in the Boston marathon in a time of. 2hr 09min 27sec. (Ron Casey)

 After finishing third in the marathon at the 1987 World Championships and clocking a fast time at Boston in April 1988, Gelindo Bordin keenly anticipated competing in his first Olympic marathon in Seoul, on 2 October 1988. Bordin stayed with the leaders from the start, and after 25km there were just 13 runners left in the lead pack. From that point they started losing contact one by one, and with 5km remaining, only three runners remained, Bordin, Douglas Wakihuri (Kenya), and Ahmed Salah (Djibouti), the three medallists at the previous year's World Championships. The other two runners broke away from Bordin soon after that and with only 3km to go Salah led Wakihuri by 20m, with Bordin a further 20m adrift. However, within the next kilometre Wakihuri started to slow, and Bordin caught and passed him just before the 40km mark.

Then Salah started to slow, and Bordin made a move for the lead. Gelindo swept past Salah with just over 1km remaining, and crossed the finish line (see photo above) as the Olympic gold medallist 2hr 10min 32sec after he started. On 16 April 1990, Bordin won the prestigious Boston marathon, in a career best time of 2hr 08min 19sec. Later that year, at Split, he successfully defended his European marathon title, becoming the first man to win the title twice. Bordin's fortunes started to wane after his success at Split. He failed to finish in the World Marathon Cup at London on 21 April 1991, and later that year, at the World Championships in Tokyo, he finished in 8th place. The following year Bordin attempted to defend his Olympic title at Barcelona, however he strained a groin muscle jumping over a fallen runner just after the halfway mark, and failed to finish. Shortly after this disappointment Gelindo Bordin retired. (Ron Casey)