Olympic Record: 9:33.6 Ville Ritola, Finland Paris, France 9 July 1924
The domination of the Finns was evident in the heats, won by Ritola
(9:46.6), Nurmi (9:58.8), and Loukola (9:37.6). Of the times prior to
Amsterdam, Loukola had been much the fastest man with 9:25.2, more
than ten seconds quicker than Dalton (9:35.6). Nurmi fell in the water
jump early in his heat, and was helped up by Duquesne. Nurmi stayed
with the tiny (1.55m) Frenchman to the end of the heat, the two amica-
bly crossing the line together.
In the final, Andersen and Loukola were the early leaders, with only
Ritola of the favourites losing touch early. Exhausted from the 5000m
the day before, he eventually dropped out. The decisive move came
from Loukola in the fifth lap, where the pace for the 417m lap was
increased from 80.8 to 77.2, and then 76.4 for the next lap. By the bell
he was 13 seconds ahead of Nurmi, and won easing up, yet still beat his
own best on record by more than three seconds. Nurmi had too much
pace for Andersen and won the silver medal easily.
Finland
Sweden
France
United States
Great Britain
Italy
Belgium
Canada
Portugal
Ireland
