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The athlete who opened the doors to Europe
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For many years Tomás Barris was considered the
star figure of Spanish athletics. This was at a time when resources
for sport in the country were scarce, Spanish athletes had less international
contacts and the rigorous dedication of today's athletes did not exist.
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Reams have been written about him since his athletic
debut in the Jean Bouin school meet on the 1st January 1947. After
that, his athletics career went from strength to strength, despite the ups
and downs he suffered in his first years on the competitive circuit, which,
to some, seemed to indicate a certain lack of moral fibre.
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Tomás Barris' transformation into a world
class athlete did not happen by chance. It was the fruit of his own willpower
and determination and the work of his Finnish trainer Olli Virho who
spent eight months in Barcelona preparing Catalan athletes for the 2nd Mediterranean
Games, held in the old Montjuic Stadium in summer 1955.
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Olli Virho's trip was organized
by the City Hall of Barcelona and by
Juan Antonio Samaranch who paid for the stay of the Finnish
trainer. Olli Virho introduced the concept of controlled and intensive
training into Spain. When he returned to Finland, he kept in touch with
Barris, encouraging him to believe in his athleticism and helping build
his confidence.
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However, the trainer with the greatest international
prestige at that time was to be found in the Institute of Physical Education
at the University of Freiburg in Germany. Woldemar Gerschler
was then popularly known as The maker of world records and olympic champions,
such as Rudolf Harbig, Josy Barthel and Gordon Pirie
(from Luxembourg), the Belgian Roger Moens, etc. Gerschler worked
with Doctor Hans Reindell, who had carried out studies on human stamina.
The group was completed by the famous psychoanalyst Dr. Schilge. They
achieved great results, but there were also many athletes who burned themselves
out in Freiburg. Barris always knew how to intelligently adapt himself
to the teachings he received.
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The explosion onto the scene of Tomás Barris would
never have happened without the help of Juan Antonio Samaranch,
who always believed in him, offering him his personal help in carrying
out so many trips to the beautiful capital of the Black Forest. Success
was not long in coming.
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From 1957, the track at the University of Madrid
was the scene for encounters between Spain and Germany and was where Tomás
Barris obtained the only Spanish victory, winning the 1500 metres in front
of the former world record holder Werner Luegg. This achievement opened
the doors for him to the most renowned stadiums of Germany and Scandinavia,
considered the cradle of world athleticism.
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He performed alongside the U.S. team and other world
figures in his summer tours throughout Europe, beating world record holders
and olympic champions along the way. He achieved enormous popularity and his
name figured prominently in reports sent by Spanish ambassadors to the Ministry
for Foreign Affairs. In 1957, The National Sports Delegation awarded him
the Baron Güell Cup recognizing him as the best Spanish athlete on an
international level. Later, the Spanish government would award him the Cross
of Merit and the International Athletics Organization (IAAF) would award
him their Silver Medal for Sporting Merit.
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Tomás Barris' tours of Europe would continue
for many years, but they reached their height in the Finnish city of Turku,
when the chronometer stopped at the end of a memorable 1500 m. race
at 3' 41·7'', the 13th best time of the year, world wide, and the 20th
best of all time. It was a Spanish record, and at that time was an improvement
on anything offered by athletes from countries with a long sporting tradition
such as Germany, France, Norway, Italy, Romania, Belgium, Yugoslavia, etc.
Only 12 countries in the world then had a better time recorded in their book
of national records.
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When we speak today of the important progress of Spanish
athletes in
achieving Olympic medals and winning
performances at world championships, we should not forget the precursor
at the distance: Tomás Barris, who retired from competitive athletics
without ever having known artificial tracks, having run in long spiked
shoes on cinder tracks, who ran without the help of pace making athletes,
without ADO grants, nor sponsorships, etc., and who had to work for his
future living outside the sporting arena.
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Tomás Barris represented a brilliant milestone
in the history of Spanish sport, in an era in which international gymnastics
also saw the star shine of Joaquín Blume. Making comparison
between today and that period is not really advisable because circumstances
have changed so radically. More than 40 years have passed since Tomás
Barris triumphed in Turku, but he shall always be remembered as the man who
opened the doors to Europe for Spanish athleticism at the highest level of
competition.
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This profile was compiled with the collaboration of Francisco Castelló,
a historian of Catalan athletics.
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