Alberto Cova

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Medal record
Men's Athletics
Olympic Games
Gold	1984 Los Angeles	10000 m
World Championships
Gold	1983 Helsinki	10000 m
European Championships
Gold	1982 Athens	10000 m
Silver	1986 Stuttgart	10000 m

Alberto Cova (born December 1, 1958) is an Italian former athlete, winner of 10 000 m at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

[edit] Career

Born in Inverigo, province of Como, Italy, Alberto Cova was characterized by his superiority in the sprint finish, and the only way to nullify this was to set a very fast pace from the start to finish.

Cova got his first fame at the 1982 European Championships in Athens, where he surprisingly outsprinted the main favourite Werner Schildhauer from East Germany, to win his first international championship title. In the next year, Cova wasn't the main favourite at the first World Championships held in Helsinki, being considered only as a possible medal winner. The 10,000 m final at Helsinki was run in slow pace, with thirteen runners still in a leading pack at the bell. With only 30 metres to go, Cova was only in fifth place, but then sprinted forward to win. Schildhauer finished in second place.

The 10,000 m final at the Los Angeles Olympics began at an even slower pace than at Helsinki, and it seemed that none of Cova's rivals had learned their lesson, because only after the 7 km mark, Martti Vainio from Finland, picked up the speed. Cova managed to follow him, and Vainio couldn't sustain his own fast pace, so Cova easily swept past him after the bell and sprinted to the line to win his last international title.

At the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart, Cova was beaten at his own game, when he was outsprinted by fellow countryman Stefano Mei on the last lap of the 10,000 m final. Cova never won a major race after that, and came tenth in his heat and failed to qualify for the final at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, at his last international competition.

Olympic champions in men's 5 miles and 10000 m
As five miles: 1906: Henry Hawtrey | 1908: Emil Voigt
As 10000 metres: 1912: Hannes Kolehmainen | 1920: Paavo Nurmi | 1924: Ville Ritola | 1928: Paavo Nurmi | 1932: Janusz Kusociński | 1936: Ilmari Salminen | 1948:  Emil Zátopek | 1952:  Emil Zátopek | 1956: Vladimir Kuts | 1960: Pyotr Bolotnikov | 1964: Billy Mills | 1968: Naftali Temu | 1972: Lasse Virén | 1976: Lasse Virén |1980: Miruts Yifter | 1984: Alberto Cova | 1988: Brahim Boutayeb | 1992: Khalid Skah | 1996: Haile Gebrselassie | 2000: Haile Gebrselassie | 2004: Kenenisa Bekele