caption country clubs birth_place weight nationality height sport birth_date image article_title
willy polleunis in 1973 belgium f.c. liège dcla hasselt , belgium 54 kg lb on belgian 1.68 m ftin on long-distance running 27 december 1947 willy polleunis.jpg willy polleunis

willy polleunis

willy polleunis -lrb- born 27 december 1947 -rrb- is a retired long-distance runner from belgium who won the silver medal in the 3000 metres at the 1973 european indoor championships , behind his clubmate emiel puttemans .
he competed in the 5000 and 1000 metres events at the 1968 , 1972 and 1976 olympics with the best achievement of sixth place in the 5000 metres in 1976 .
at the start of the final lap , he was in tenth place , but he accelerated , and possibly ran the final lap even faster than the winner , lasse viren .
