The Olympian Alberto Juantorena of Cuba is the only athlete to win both the 400m and 800m titles at an Olympic Games. He achieved this rare feat at the Summer Olympic Games of Montreal 1976. One of his popular quotes is, “Be very strong… be very methodical in your life if you want to be a champion.”
Alberto was ranked as world’s best runner in the 400m in 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1978, and in the 800m in 1976 and 1977. According to the votes of the experts of Track & Field News, he was voted World Athlete of the Year in 1976 and 1977.
A member of the Cuban basketball team, Alberto switched to track at 20. Standing 1.88m (6 feet 2 inches) tall with a powerful 2.75m (9-foot) stride, Alberto became known as “El Caballo” (“The Horse”). He is married to Yria, a former gymnast and they have been blessed with five children.
At the Central American and Caribbean Games, Alberto won the 400m gold medals in 1973 (46.4 sec), 1974 (45.52 sec) and 1978 (44.27), and the 800m gold medals in 1978 (1:47.23), 1981 (1:47.59) and 1982 (1:45.15).He achieved his Personal Bests of 44.26 sec. in 400m in 1976 and 1:43.44 in 800m in 1977.
Birth and Introduction to Athletics
He was born as Alberto Juantorena Danger on December 3, 1950 in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. At 14, Alberto was first considered a potential star at basketball. He was sent to a state basketball school, and was a member of the national team. Meanwhile, he had been a regional high-school champion at 800m and 1500m.
His talent in athletics was discovered by a Polish track coach, Zygmunt Zabierzowski, who convinced him to start running seriously. He was ready for the change. As he states he was a ‘bad’ basketball player and his idol was the Cuban sprinter Enrique Figuerola.
Only a year after his first 400m, Alberto reached semifinals of the 400m event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in the year 1972 in Munich, West Germany, where he clocked 45.94 sec.
This hugely talented Cuban athlete, announced his international potential in track and field as he won the 400m title at the 1973 World University Games in Moscow, Soviet Union clocking 45.36 sec.He then won all of his 400m competitions in 1973 and 1974 before undergoing two operations on his foot in 1975.
In 1975, he won two silver medals - 400m with 44.80 sec and 4x400m relay with Eddy Gutierrez, Carlos Alvarez, and Damaso Alfonso at the Pan American Games.
First Olympian with 400m and 800m Double
Alberto only seriously took up running the 800m in 1976, so few thought he was a candidate for the Olympic gold that year. His coach, Zabierzowski, had initially tricked him in to trying an 800m race by convincing him the other runners needed a pacemaker.
He increased his range. He was healthy to run not only the 400m but also the 800m, a distance he had begun running to build endurance. An unknown internationally at that distance, Alberto not only won Cuba’s first track gold medal in 800m but also set a new world record of 1:43.5 at Montreal.
By the finals of the 400m, Alberto was running his seventh race (of nine) of the Olympics, yet he still ran the fastest 400m of his career to win his second gold medal with a low-altitude world record of 44.26 sec.Also, he was part of the 4x400m relay team of Cuba that finished seventh in the finals.
Alberto became the first Olympian to win the 400-meter and 800-meter titles in a single Olympic Games. Alberto first won the 800-meter gold in world-record time, and then he attempted to complete the 400/800 double that had eluded Mel Sheppard in 1908, Ted Meredith in 1912, Arthur Wint in 1948 and Mal Whitfield in 1948 and 1952. All won one final, but not the other.
Men’s 800m at Montreal Olympics
The men’s 800m at the Summer Olympics Montreal 1976 was held on July 23, 24 and 25, 1976. Forty-two athletes from 31 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.
The competition used the three-round format that had been in use for most Games since 1912. The “fastest loser” system introduced in 1964 was used for the first round. There were six first-round heats, each with 7 or 8 athletes; the top two runners in each heat as well as the next four fastest overall advanced to the semifinals. There were two semifinals with 8 athletes each; the top four runners in each semifinal advanced to the eight-man final.
Prior to the competition, the existing World record stood for Marcello Fiasconaro of Italy for his 1:43.7 in Milan, Italy on June 27, 1973 whilst the Olympic record belonged to Ralph Doubell of Australia for 1:44.3 at Mexico Olympics on October 15, 1968.
In the first semi-final, Alberto Juantorena won with 1:45.88 from Ivo van Damme of Belgium, Steve Ovett of Great Britain, Sri Ram Singh of India. The second semi-final was won by Rick Wohlhuter of the United States clocking 1:46.72 from Carlo Grippo of Italy, Luciano Susani of Yugoslavia and Willi Wulbeck of West Germany.
In the final, from the start Alberto Juantorena took an apparent lead against the field through the staggered start. Passing the break at 300m, the long striding Cuban was a couple of steps ahead of the noticeably smaller American Rick Wohlhuter. Sriram Singh came from more than 10m back at the break to sprint past Juantorena and the rest of the field, to take the lead just after the bell.
Singh’s lead was short lived as the field bunched then started to make their way around him. Wohlhuter stuck less than a mere step behind Juantorena all the way through the final turn as Ivo van Damme, Willi Wulbeck and future champion Steve Ovett jockeyed for position. Coming off the turn, Juantorena found more speed to pull away from Wohlhuter. As he struggled down the home stretch, Wohlhuter was passed by van Damme 20m before the finish.
Alberto Juantorena’s 1:43.5 (rounded down from the electronic time of 1:43.50) broke Marcello Fiasconaro’s hand timed world record of 1:43.7. Ivo van Damme of Belgium won the silver clocking 1:43.86 whilst Rick Wohlhuter of the United States clocked 1:44.12 to secure the bronze. Despite the erratic pace, Singh’s time in 7th place stood as the Asian record until it was broken by Lee Jin-il in 1994.
This was the 18th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the 1972 finalists returned; the Kenyan boycott kept Munich bronze medalist and would-be favorite Mike Boit out. Marcello Fiasconaro of Italy, who had set the world record in 1973, was injured and unable to compete. The favorites among the athletes who did appear were Alberto Juantorena of Cuba, Rick Wohlhuter of the United States, and Ivo van Damme of Belgium.
Alberto Juantorena’s gold for Cuba was the nation’s first medal in the event. He was the first non-English speaking athlete to win Olympic gold in this event. Ivo van Damme’s silver was Belgium’s first medal in the event since 1960, matching the 1960 silver for best result for the nation.
Barbados, Saudi Arabia, and Suriname appeared in the event for the first time. Great Britain and the United States each made their 17th appearance, tied for the most among all nations.In the final, Alberto Juantorena led the field for most of the race and all three medalists ran under the Olympic record time.
Men’s 400m at Montreal Olympics
The competition for the men’s 400m at the Montreal 1976 Olympics was held on July 26, 28 and 29, 1976. Forty-four athletes from 29 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.
This was the eighteenth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Two finalists, but no medalists, from 1972 returned: sixth-place finisher Markku Kukkoaho of Finland and seventh-place Karl Honz of West Germany.
Alberto Juantorena was the favorite, ranked #1 in the world and trying to become the first man to win the 400m/800m double (outside of the 1906 Intercalated Games). His main competition was the United States team, aiming for a sixth consecutive win in the event.
Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, the Netherlands Antilles, and Papua New Guinea appeared in this event for the first time. The United States made its eighteenth appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.The event’s world and Olympic records were established by Lee Evans of the USA at Mexico Olympics clocking 43.8 sec on October 18, 1968.
The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. The “fastest loser” system, introduced in 1964, was applied in the first round. With 20 fewer runners than in 1972 (44 compared to 64), there were only 6 first-round heats, each scheduled to have 7 or 8 athletes but one with only 6 starters.
The top five runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals along with the next two fastest overall. The 4 quarterfinals each had 8 runners; the top four athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals, with no “fastest loser” spots. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 8 runners each.
The first semi-final was won by Alberto Juantorena of Cuba clocking 45.10 sec from Fons Brijdenbach of Belgium, Maxie Parks of the United States and Rick Mitchell of Australia and all four qualified for the final. In the second semi-final, Fred Newhouse of the United States was the winner clocking 44.89 sec and David Jenkins of Great Britain, Herman Frazier of the United States and Jan Werner of Poland trailed him.
The top four runners in each semifinal advanced, making an eight-man final. Many of the 65,000 spectators in the Montreal Olympic Stadium were cheering for the three American finalists and fearing Alberto. The fears were fulfilled.
Fred Newhouse and Maxie Parks appeared to go for the early lead, while Alberto Juantorena was initially a little slower. Fred Newhouse as usual, led first 200 meters.Then Juantorena stretched out on the backstretch to regain position about equal to the third American Herman Frazier.
Then they rounded the last turn, and Alberto started rolling. Coming off the final turn Juantorena had caught the rest of the field and was a step behind Newhouse. With 50 meters left Alberto caught him, and the power from his body carried him home first by a yard. Herman Frazier of Philadelphia finished five yards behind Newhouse.
Parks and Fons Brijdenbach were about even two more strides back with Frazier just behind them. As Juantorena began to pass Newhouse, Newhouse noticeably struggled, leaving Juantorena to win. Three metres back, Frazier just edged ahead of Brijdenbach for the bronze medal, as Parks faded.
Alberto’s time was 44.26 sec, the third fastest in history and the fastest at sea level. The only faster times were 43.81 by Lee Evans and 43.97 by Larry James behind Evans in the 1968 Olympics at Mexico City, in thin air, 11/2 miles above sea level.
The silver medal was secured by Fred Newhouse of the United States clocking 44.40 and Herman Frazier of the United States clinched the bronze with 44.95 sec. “I caught Newhouse in the last 50 meters,” said the 24-year-old Alberto, “because I had power and muscles I keep for the last part of the race. I’m no superman,” said Alberto Juantorena.
The gold medal was won by Alberto Juantorena of Cuba with 44.26 sec, the nation’s first medal in the event, breaking a string of five victories by the United States. Alberto became the first man to win both the 800m and 400m in an Olympics.
Serving World Athletics Council
After the Olympics, in 1977, he set another world record in the 800m, running 1:43.44 in Sofia, Bulgaria at the World University Games. He also won both the 400m (45.36 sec) and 800m (1:44.04) at the 1977 IAAF World Cup in Dusseldorf, West Germany.
Alberto continued his career, though injuries prevented him from reaching the same level as in Montreal. He had been born with flat feet that caused feet and back problems, and had corrective surgery in 1977. In 1978, he was unbeaten at the 400m, but suffered his first ever defeat at 800m.
In 1979 at the Pan American Games in San Juan, Puertro Rico, he won silver in 400m and 800m and a bronze in the 4x400m relay.
Yet, particularly hamstring injuries, hampered his training and racing leading up to the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, where he just missed out on a medal in the 400m, placing fourth, clocking 45.09 sec.Alberto concluded his Olympic career in 1980 at Moscow.
At the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, his last international appearance in a major event, he broke his foot and tore ligaments when he stepped on the inside of the track after qualifying in the first round of the 800m.
He returned to training with a view to competing in the 1984 Summer Olympics. However, the 1984 Olympics boycott ended his last chance. Instead, he took part in the Friendship Games, the alternative to the official Olympics for the Eastern bloc countries, where he shared the gold in the 800m with Ryszard Ostrowski.
After retirement from athletics in 1984, he became an international sports administrator. Alberto served in many official capacities, including as the Vice President of the National Institute for Sports, Physical Education and Recreation for Cuba, Vice Minister for Sport of Cuba, and Vice-President and later Senior Vice-President of the Cuban Olympic Committee.
The IAAF Centenary Historic Exhibition, one of the core celebrations of 100 years of Athletics Excellence in 2012, brought the IAAF and Athletics into a historical context, illustrating their remarkable legacy with the greatest ever assembled collection of artefacts from history.
Alberto Juantorena’s gold sprayed running spikes were on display along with the Montreal Olympics 200m winning spikes of Jamaica’s Don Quarrie, which in stark contrast to Alberto’s footwear have been dipped in bronze. Two great runners, two unique artefacts!
Alberto Juantorenais a member of the World Athletics Council, and has also served as an Athletes’ Commission Chairman and Grand Prix Commission Member.
(The author is the winner of Presidential Awards for Sports and recipient of multiple National Accolades for Academic pursuits. He possesses a PhD, MPhil and double MSc. He can be reached at [email protected])