Witold Baran

Witold Stanisław Baran (born July 29, 1939 in Chmielów) is a retired middle distance runner from Poland, who won the silver medal in the men's 1,500 metres at the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

Baran established a reputation as a bold front-runner in middle-distance events during the 1960s. He achieved a number of significant victories during his career including six Polish national titles in the 800 metres (1961), the 1,500 metres (1962, 1963, 1966, 1968) and 5,000 metres (1967).

Baran made a major breakthrough on the international scene in 1961, winning the Kusocinski memorial 1,500 m in Warsaw on June 17, and registering three of the fastest six times recorded over that distance during that year. This made him one of the favourites for the 1,500 m title at the following year's European Championships in Belgrade, together with 1960 Summer Olympics silver-medallist Michel Jazy (France). In the final in Belgrade, held on September 16, Jazy allowed Baran to set the pace, before blasting past him as they approached the final curve. The Frenchman went on to easily win the gold medal while Baran just managed to hold off Tomás Salinger (Czechoslovakia) for the silver.

Baran's only other appearance in a major championships final was in the 1,500 m at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, where the overwhelming favourite was 1 mile world-record holder Peter Snell from New Zealand. The relatively slow pace of the final saw the entire 9-man field bunched together at the bell, with Baran in second place, and Snell directly behind him, in 4th place on the inside of the track. Shortly afterwards, Snell sped away down the back straight leaving the rest of the field to struggle for the minor medals. Baran briefly inched into second place in the home straight before fading to 6th. Baran continued to compete for a number of years after Tokyo, but did not compete in another major championships.

References

* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=4237 Profile Sporting Heroes]
* [http://bieganie.na11.pl/statystyka/index.php?p=showrunner&runner_id=30 Profile Bieganie.pl]