The tenth day of September in 1972 is one of the most significant in Finnish sports history. The Finns went wild for the running success of the Munich Olympics.
Emma Hyuppa,
Jussi Saarinen
The Munich 1972 golden half-hour will be shown today on TV2 at 19:15. After that, a documentary about Lasse Virén will also be shown.
Today, September 10, it will be 50 years since one of the most significant moments in Finnish sports history, the “golden half hour” in Munich.
First Lasse Viren won his second gold of the Munich Olympics in the 5,000 meters and moments later Pekka Vasala became Olympic champion in 1,500 meters.
Commentator Anssi Kukko88, Remembering the legendary running day in Munich still makes me sensitive.
– Even a week earlier, when Viren won the kimpi, I had a tear in my eye. September 10 was more than a drop in the eye. I almost cried after the broadcast, because I’m a sensitive soul, Kukkonen says now.
According to Kukkonen, there had certainly been high expectations in the air. A week earlier, Viren had fallen and still won Olympic gold by ten tons in a new world record time.
The Finn was also known to be in terrible shape over a shorter distance, because before the Olympic Games he had run the world record for two miles and was also close to the world record for 5,000 meters.
Vasala was one of the winning favorites of Tonnivitose. Before the Olympics, he had run 800 meters in an amazing time of 1:44.5, which was only two tenths of the then world record.
– Whether Pekka would have also won the 800 meters in Munich remains an eternal mystery. But Pekka didn’t risk it, but chose one sure and good one. Now it’s easy to say that there were tremors that Viren and Vasala could win, although of course I wasn’t sure. Yes, the spirit was strong then and there was trust in Finnish athletes, says Kukkonen.
Today, a similar trick in running sports sounds absurd.
– I have relayed and narrated 38 Finnish Olympic gold medal performances. It is Finland’s record as a narrator, and with these prospects, it will unfortunately remain so. Such a golden half hour, when Finland gets two gold medals in running sports within half an hour, will probably never happen again to anyone, says Kukkonen.
President Urho Kekkonen’s coffee was cold
Kukkonen, who started at Yleisradio in 1961, makes Munich the top event of his half-hour commentary career. But the question of whether Viren or Vasala pissed him off more that day makes him think.
– Difficult question. Yes, Viren’s 5,000 meters was a top performance after a slow start. The end came hard. It stung terribly. Pekka went like a deer. It was also a fantastic last round. It goes “fifty-fifty”, I can’t say who felt more. I don’t want to rank these gentlemen, says Kukkonen.
Finland went crazy after the golden half hour. Sports journalist and non-fiction writer Kalle Virtapohja says that the Helsinki airport was “completely blocked” when the Olympic heroes returned to Finland.
– There were 3,000 people at the airport to receive them. Viren and Vasala left in a Rolls Royce to the presidential palace, where Urho Kekkonen was waiting for them for coffee. There were so many people that the police had to shout that “Urk’s coffee is getting cold, make room”, says Virtapohja.
According to Virtapohja, the position of athletics had already been strong, despite the trough of the 1960s, but with the events in Munich, it became the number one sport in Finland. The golden half-hour had a far-reaching social impact.
– We regained faith in running, regained faith that Finns can succeed in the world. At the same time, we had developed an interest in fitness and jogging. In terms of public health, it was a positive time, because the whole nation was on the bite tracks.
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