View source for Thomas Wessinghage

{{short description|German distance runner}}
{{BLP sources|date=May 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
[[File:ThomasWessinghage.jpg|thumb|Wessinghage in 1981]]
'''Thomas Wessinghage''' (born 22 February 1952 in [[Hagen]], [[North Rhine-Westphalia]]) is a German former middle- and long-distance runner who won the [[1982 European Championships in Athletics|1982 European Championships]]' final over [[5000 metres]] beating the British world-record holder [[David Moorcroft]]. Because he was already thirty at the time, and had been an international-level runner for a decade, this victory was a long-awaited one for him. He admitted that he decided to run the 5000 metres instead of the 1500 metres, because he lost to Ovett and Coe so often in the shorter distance. The fairly slow pace of the 1982 European Athletics Championships 5000-metre final favoured Wessinghage, because he was in top form - having set a European record at 2000 metres shortly before the Championships - and because he was the fastest 1500-metre runner in the final, having run that distance in 3 minutes 31.6 seconds in 1980. Shortly after he started his final sprint with over 250 metres to go, Wessinghage moved into a decisive lead, stretching it into five metres by 4800 metres and almost doubling it by 4900 metres (see, for example, "The Thousand Stars of Athletics" / Yleisurheilun tuhat tähteä, written by Matti Hannus and published in Finland in 1983; Pat Butcher, The Perfect Distance: Ovett&Coe: The Record-Breaking Rivalry, London: Weidenfeld&Nicolson, 2004; "The Major Events of Top Sports Until 1982" / Huippu-urheilun suuret tapahtumat vuoteen 1982 asti, published in Finland in 1982; "The Great European Championships Book" / Suuri EM-kirja, published in Finland in 1990; see tommytempo1's video about the race's last two laps on YouTube with the search words "Thomas Wessinghage").

In 1980 he set a German record of 3:31.58 min over [[1500 metres]] which still has not been broken. In the same race [[Steve Ovett]] from the UK set a world record of 3:31.36 min. He was married to former Olympian [[Ellen Tittel]]. Wessinghage missed a great chance of winning an Olympic medal that year because West Germany joined the United States-led boycott. He was unlucky also in the other Olympic years of his competitive career: he was eliminated in the 1500-metre heats in the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, and he was injured in a race before the 1984 Olympics (see Hannus, "The Thousand Stars of Athletics"; "The Big Olympic Book" / Suuri Olympiakirja, written and published by the "Runner" / Juoksija magazine's journalists and published in Finland in 1984).

In the 1983 inaugural World Athletics Championships, he was among the favourites to win the 5000-metre title, but for some reason
he could not accelerate enough when it mattered the most - during the final lap - despite running at a steady rhythm earlier in the race. Accordingly, he dropped from third to sixth during the last lap, and lost to the winner, Ireland's [[Eamonn Coghlan]], by almost four seconds (see, for example, "World Athletics Championships 1983" / Yleisurheilun MM-kisat 1983, written by the "Runner" / Juoksija magazine's journalists and published in Finland in 1983).

His last major competitive race was in the 5000-metre qualifying heats of the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart,
West Germany. In that race, he failed to advance to the final (see, for example, "The Great European Championships Book" / Suuri EM-kirja, published in Finland in 1990).

==International competitions==
{| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}}
|-
!colspan="6"|Representing {{FRG}}
|-
|1970
|[[1970 European Athletics Junior Championships|European Junior Championships]]
|[[Paris, France]]
|8th
|1500 m
|3:57.68
|-
|rowspan=2|1972
|[[1972 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Grenoble]], France
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|4 × 720 m relay
|6:26.4
|-
|[[Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|[[Munich]], West Germany
|21st (sf)
|1500 m
|[[Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres|3:43.4]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1973
|[[1973 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Rotterdam]], Netherlands
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|4 × 720 m relay
|6:21.58
|-
|[[Athletics at the 1973 Summer Universiade|Universiade]]
|[[Moscow]], Soviet Union
|3rd (h)
|1500 m
|[[Athletics at the 1973 Summer Universiade – Men's 1500 metres|3:44.6]]<sup>1</sup>
|-
|rowspan=2|1974
|[[1974 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Gothenburg]], Sweden
|bgcolor="silver" | 2nd
|1500 m
|[[1974 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:42.02]]
|-
|[[1974 European Athletics Championships|European Championships]]
|[[Rome]], Italy
|bgcolor="cc9966" | 3rd
|1500 m
|[[1974 European Athletics Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:41.1]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1975
|[[1975 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Katowice]], Poland
|bgcolor="gold" | 1st
|1500 m
|[[1975 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:44.6]]
|-
|[[Athletics at the 1975 Summer Universiade|Universiade]]
|Rome, Italy
|bgcolor="gold" | 1st
|1500 m
|[[Athletics at the 1975 Summer Universiade – Men's 1500 metres|3:39.73]]
|-
|1976
|[[1976 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Munich]], West Germany
|bgcolor="silver" | 2nd
|1500 m
|[[1976 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:45.3]]
|-
|1977
|[[1977 IAAF World Cup|World Cup]]
|[[Düsseldorf]], West Germany
|bgcolor="silver" | 2nd
|1500 m
|[[1977 IAAF World Cup – Results#1500 m|3:35.98]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1978
|[[1978 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Milan]], Italy
|bgcolor="silver" | 2nd
|1500 m
|[[1978 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:38.23]]
|-
|[[1978 European Athletics Championships|European Championships]]
|[[Prague]], Czechoslovakia
|4th
|1500 m
|[[1978 European Athletics Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:37.19]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1979
|[[1979 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Vienna]], Austria
|bgcolor="silver" | 2nd
|1500 m
|[[1979 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:42.2]]
|-
|[[1979 IAAF World Cup|World Cup]]
|[[Montreal]], Canada
|bgcolor="gold" | 1st
|1500 m
|[[1979 IAAF World Cup – Results#1500 m|3:46.00]]<sup>2</sup>
|-
|1980
|[[1980 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Sindelfingen]], West Germany
|bgcolor="gold" | 1st
|1500 m
|[[1980 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:37.54]]
|-
|1981
|[[1981 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|Grenoble, France
|bgcolor="gold" | 1st
|1500 m
|[[1981 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:42.64]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1982
|[[1982 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|Milan, Italy
|4th
|1500 m
|[[1982 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:39.79]]
|-
|[[1982 European Athletics Championships|European Championships]]
|[[Athens]], Greece
|bgcolor="gold" | 1st
|5000 m
|[[1982 European Athletics Championships – Men's 5000 metres|13:28.90]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1983
|[[1983 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Budapest]], Hungary
|bgcolor="gold" | 1st
|1500 m
|[[1983 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:39.82]]
|-
|[[1983 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Helsinki]], Finland
|6th
|5000 m
|[[1983 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 5000 metres|13:32.46]]
|-
|1984
|[[1984 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|Gothenburg, Sweden
|bgcolor="cc9966" | 3rd
|1500 m
|[[1984 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 1500 metres|3:41.75]]
|-
|1985
|[[1985 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Piraeus]], Greece
|bgcolor="silver" | 2nd
|3000 m
|[[1985 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 3000 metres|8:10.88]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1986
|[[1986 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Madrid]], Spain
|5th
|3000 m
|[[1986 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 3000 metres|8:00.76]]
|-
|[[1986 European Athletics Championships|European Championships]]
|[[Stuttgart]], West Germany
|17th (h)
|5000 m
|[[1986 European Athletics Championships – Men's 5000 metres|13:33.98]]
|}
<sup>1</sup>Did not finish in the final<br>
<sup>2</sup>Representing Europe

==External links==
*{{SR/Olympics profile|we/thomas-wessinghage-1}}

{{Footer IAAF World Cup Champions 1500m Men}}
{{Footer European Champions 5000 m Men}}
{{Footer Universiade Champions 1500m Men}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wessinghage, Thomas}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Hagen]]
[[Category:Athletes from Arnsberg (region)]]
[[Category:German male middle-distance runners]]
[[Category:German male long-distance runners]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic athletes for West Germany]]
[[Category:European Athletics Championships medalists]]
[[Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for West Germany]]
[[Category:Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)]]
[[Category:FISU World University Games gold medalists for West Germany]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1975 Summer Universiade]]
[[Category:West German Athletics Championships winners]]
[[Category:20th-century German sportsmen]]