spero 2

April 22, 2011 by admin 

Don Spero and Vyacheslav Ivanov after the European Championships in Amsterdam in 1964. Two months later at the Olympics Games in Tokyo, Spero would beat Ivanov in a historic upset of the European Champion during heats.

Don Spero gives Vyacheslav Ivanov his shirt after losing his first race against him at the European Championships in Amsterdam in August 1964, two months before the men would face off again at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

In Amsterdam, Spero had been ahead by 500 meters, but in the end, Ivanov beat him by a boat length. Spero spent the next two months learning to sprint in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. He ended up beating Ivanov in a historic upset during the heats of those Olympic Games.

(Photo courtesy of Don Spero)

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