Biggest Upset in Sports History?

[brian1961]

I almost agree with the 1980 Winter Olympics Team USA upset of the Soviet Union. I saw that on TV when it happened. I was on the edge of my seat the whole game!

However, the biggest upset involved a different Team USA versus Soviet Union---in Track & Field. Held at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1964, DEEP in the Cold War. Specifically, it was the mens' 10,000 meter race. USA runners had always gotten run into the ground. With 24 laps around the 400 meter track, confusion over how many laps a lapped runner had actually run inevitably occurred. A hapless American runner was ordered to run an extra lap, the official convinced he'd only run 23 laps. The Russians cleaned up every time; it was humiliating. THEY saw it as an example of how lazy, weak and blase we were as a nation.

So imagine their thoughts as Gerry Lindgren, 5'6", still in high school, walked to the starting line. He made quite a sight, compared to the much stronger, taller, mature-looking Russians. They chuckled. Shook their heads. Sending a boy against Olympic caliber Russian athletes. Was this a joke? SEND YOUR BEST AGAINST US, YOU HEATHEN AMERICAN WEAKLINGS, SO WE CAN RUN YOU OFF YOUR FEET AGAIN!

Lindgren stayed with the top two Russians for four miles, which unnerved and puzzled them. Two miles still to go. Then, without warning (though Gerry and his coach had planned this, for which Gerry trained especially hard to pull off this tactic), he blasted around them and ran the next lap in about sixty seconds, ten seconds faster than the race pace had been. The crowd was screaming with awe, delight, and a "this time we're gonna getcha!" Back then the Cold War was very real and very personal. We hated Russia, and they loathed us.

Now Gerry had a lead of perhaps 8 seconds. The screaming never stopped. The two Russians got a little closer to Gerry, but then the gap stayed about the same. They had nothing inside them to catch up to the kid. Up in the stands, Bobby Kennedy was so moved at this unprecedented spectacle, he was in tears. Gerry Lindgren just kept on forcing himself, to stay ahead.

All this time, he had refused to allow himself to look back, not an easy thing to do in a distance race. Finally, as he began his final sprint after the last turn, he looked back. The closest Russian was just entering the last turn, broken. Gerry Lindgren went on to break the tape and win the 10,000, against some top level Soviet Union runners who would not have given him one chance in a zillion to beat them.

The story made headlines across the country. The significance weighed on people. Americans were so proud of their Gerry Lindgren. One of the most remarkable sport stories ever, and the greatest of all upsets.

But you know, I guess I have to back off and say "one of the greatest upsets". Not to be wishy-washy, but there have been so many great upsets. I mean, later on that year in the '64 Olympic 10,000, Billy Mills pulled off what is considered to be one of the greatest Olympic upsets, defeating world-record holder Ron Clarke. Clarke tried his hardest, but Mills out-sprinted him and some other guy. Asked about Mills, Clarke said he'd never even heard of Billy. Whatever. Incidentally, Lindgren had defeated Mills in the Olympic qualifying race, then injured himself shortly before the Games. Gerry briefly led the 10K, but could not hold the pace with his injury and placed a very respectable ninth. Mills insists Gerry may have won had he not been injured, but that's the breaks in which all sports share. I know, leave it alone. I had my say. Another day.

Cheers. -------------Brian Powell