Miruts Yifter: Remembering one of the all-time greats Longtime athletics journalist Paul Gains covered the multiple Olympic gold medallist Miruts Yifter throughout his entire career. After Yifter fled Ethiopia and sought asylum in Canada, Gains wrote a fe

Surrounded by family and friends, who played him recordings of his Olympic victories from a laptop, Miruts Yifter died Dec. 22, 2016 in Toronto’s Bridgepoint Palliative Care Centre. Nicknamed “Yifter the Shifter” for his devastating sprint finish, he famously won 5,000m/10,000m double gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, eight years after his surprise Munich Olympic 10,000m bronze. Had he not missed the 5,000m final (due to a team official’s mistake), he might well have taken another medal in Munich. The African boycott of the 1976 Montreal Olympics denied him an opportunity for more glory, though he eventually raced in Montreal at the 1979 iaaf World Cup of Athletics. Representing Africa, he won both the 5,000m and