Strand was hot favourite to win. Despite losing to Bergkvist in the
Swedish Trials, the nervy world record holder appeared unbeatable.
Bergkvist was the fastest in the heats, but quick times were out of the
question for the final, run in a thunderstorm on an already sludgelike
track. Hansenne had a brainstorm in the first lap running 58.3, and
opening up a 6m gap on the field headed by Gehrmann. The Frenchman
came back to the field in the second lap, and after reaching 800m in
2:02.6 was passed shortly after by the three Swedes, led by Eriksson.
By the 1200m mark (3:05.0) Eriksson had only Strand for company,
but unlike previous encounters he was able to hold off the European
Champion, possibly helped by a stronger physique more suited to the
difficult London conditions. Strand only held on to silver after bump-
ing Slijkhuis as the Dutchman zoomed through on the inside in the last
50m. The official time of 3:50.4 for both men was clearly incorrect
when measured against the photo-finish equipment.
Sweden
Netherlands
Czechoslovakia
Great Britain
Hungary
United States
Denmark
Luxembourg
France
Finland
Turkey
Ireland
Canada
Peru
Czechoslovakia
Greece
Spain
TTO
ARG
Iceland
Norway
Switzerland
South Korea
