Gelindo Bordin

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Medal record
Men's athletics
Olympic Games
Gold 1988 Seoul Marathon
World Championships
Bronze 1987 Rome Marathon
European Championships
Gold 1986 Stuttgart Marathon
Gold 1990 Split Marathon

Gelindo Bordin (born April 2, 1959) is an Italian former athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Born at Vicenza, Bordin made his first breakthrough at the 1986 European Championships where he won a gold medal.

His next international competition was at the 1987 World Championships in Rome. The marathon race was held on a very hot and humid day, and Bordin wisely held back from the leaders in the early stages. He caught up the leaders after the 35 km mark and finally settled to third place.

At the Olympic marathon in Seoul, Bordin stayed with the leaders from the start, and after 25 km the leading pack started losing contact one by one, and with 5 km remaining, only three runners remained, Bordin, Douglas Wakiihuri from Kenya, and Ahmed Salah from Djibouti. With 3 km to go, the latter two sprinted forward, but just a kilometre to run, Bordin swept past them to win a gold.

Bordin successfully defended his European marathon title in 1990, becoming the first man to win the title twice, but at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, he finished in a disappointing eighth place. Bordin attempted to defend his Olympic title at 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, but he strained a groin muscle jumping over a fallen runner just after the halfway mark, and failed to finish. Shortly after the Olympics Bordin decided to retire.

Bordin is the only male to ever win both the Boston Marathon and an Olympic gold medal in the marathon. He won the Boston Marathon in 1990.

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European Champions in Men's Marathon
1934: Armas Toivonen | 1938: Väinö Muinonen | 1946: Mikko Hietanen | 1950: Jack Holden | 1954: Veikko Karvonen | 1958: Sergey Popov | 1962: Brian Kilby | 1966: Jim Hogan | 1969: Ron Hill | 1971: Karel Lismont | 1974: Ivan Thompson | 1978: Leonid Moseyev | 1982: Gerard Nijboer | 1986: Gelindo Bordin | 1990: Gelindo Bordin | 1994: Martín Fiz | 1998: Stefano Baldini | 2002: Janne Holmén | 2006: Stefano Baldini


Sporting positions
Preceded by
Flag of Ethiopia Abebe Mekonnen
Boston Men's Marathon Winner
1990
Succeeded by
Flag of Kenya Ibrahim Hussein