God tells Ryun – ‘you're finished'

By Bernie Gilmer 

Fort Wayne ( Ind. ) Journal-Gazette
March 7, 1976

In case you missed it, former world distance record holder Jim Ryun has retired from competitive track. His announcement to that effect last week wasn't exactly a headline-maker in most newspapers.

A schoolboy sensation at Wichita East High School in Kansas and later at the University of Kansas, Ryun raced to a pair of well-earned world distance records nearly nine years ago. Yet he could never bag the biggest one of them all – an Olympic Gold Medal.

Although well remembered for his exploits on the track, Ryun may be equally as well remembered for his worst moment on the track. That came at the 1972 Munich Olympics, where tragedy wound up as the overlying mood of the day. And spotlighted in the “agony of defeat” realm was the performance by Ryun in the 1,500-meter prelims.

Ryun was entered in his third Olympics and the greatest miler in the world for half a decade was bidding for that coveted Olympic Gold Medal. Just four years earlier he had missed a “golden” opportunity when Kenya 's popular Kip Keino won the 1,500-meter chase at Mexico City . Accustomed to running in high altitude, Keino easily held off Ryun's challenge.

But the 1972 Olympics were tragic for Ryun. Having hopefully returned to top-flight competitive form, he was tripped up in the back of the pack in the opening heat, then fell to the Tartan track and failed to make up enough ground to qualify for the semifinals.

It was a very unfortunate happening, to say the least. Track buffs at Munich were stunned. The television audience back in the United States was stunned. Needless to say, Ryun was stunned.

Most everyone who saw Ryun take the tumble, get up and still attempt the nightmarish race felt heartsick for the American runner. Most everyone but a few genuinely sick writers who put Ryun down in print for going down at the start of the race.

It would have been easy at this point for Ryun to bid farewell to the oval and drop out of competition. After all, the embarrassment of the situation was obvious. But much to his credit, he didn't drop out of sight. As the final chapter of his overall competitive story was tacked on last week, it turns out he just simply didn't have the courage to quit running.

In that regard, Ryun might be likened to a heavyweight champ who loses his crown but doesn't know when to quit the ring. He keeps boxing, but the purses get smaller. And although one eye is still on the title, the ol' fight just isn't there anymore. Few fighters – Rocky Marciano was one exception – know when to quick.

Ryun must be a fighter. After the Olympics, he joined the International Track Association (professional) in 1972 and, although plagued by injury, continued to compete. He continued running for that Gold, although it now came in the form of greenbacks when he ran well enough.

But Ryun didn't always run well enough. In fact, he had to withdraw from the last race he was scheduled to run because of an injured Achilles tendon.

And than last week from Lawrence, Kansas, Ryun announced how he had found the courage to quit running.

“About a week ago, God spoke to me, saying ‘You fought a good fight, you ran a good race, but now you're finished.'” Ryun told a news conference.

Like many superstars who finally see the dim light at the end of the tunnel go completely out, Ryun said he actually shed tears.

“I broke down and cried, but I knew it was true,” Ryun admitted. “However, I finally found peace with myself to quit.”

So at the tender age of 29, Ryun is now looking for the next direction to take. That last race on the track has been run and for what it's worth … it's nice to declare Jim Ryun a true winner.

*THE SCRAPBOOK is a collection of stories and columns written over the past four decades by Bernie Gilmer, the general manager of FTONEWS.com. Periodically, selections from this collection will be offered for online presentation.

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