Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 30, 2026

Markus Ryffel

Markus Ryffel is a former long-distance runner from Switzerland who won the silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Last revised
Jun 30, 2026
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Markus Ryffel

Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Switzerland
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1984 Los Angeles 5000 m
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 1978 Prague 5000 m
European Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 1978 Milan 3000 m
Gold medal – first place 1979 Vienna 3000 m
Bronze medal – third place 1977 San Sebastián 3000 m

Markus Ryffel (born 5 February 1955 in Bern) is a former long-distance runner from Switzerland who won the silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Biography

He set the Swiss record at 13:07.54 min.1 He also won a silver medal at the 1978 European Championships in Athletics, sharing it with the Soviet Union's Alexander Fedotkin; they both lost just one-tenth of a second to Italy's Venanzio Ortis.2 Between these two major championships medals, Ryffel had a rather varying success as a 5,000-metre runner. In the 1980 Moscow Olympics, he placed fifth in that distance, losing to the winner, Ethiopia's Miruts Yifter, by 2.1 seconds.3 He ran significantly worse in the 1982 European Athletics Championships in Athens and in the 1983 World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland, placing only tenth and twelfth, respectively.45 Ryffel's final few years as a competitive runner, after the Los Angeles Olympics, were also rather undistinguished. He placed third in a time of slightly over 14 minutes at 5,000 metres in the European Athletics Cup's B final in Budapest in 1985. In the 1986 European Athletics Championships, he dropped out of the 5,000-metre final. In his last major international championships, the 1987 World Athletics Championships, he placed well outside the top ten runners at 10,000 metres and was eliminated in the 5,000-metre qualifying heats.6

Personal Bests

1500m: 3:38.60 Mile: 3:58.05 2000m: 4:59.54 3000m: 7:41.00 5000m: 13:07.54 10000m: 27:54.297

References

References

  1. "The Great Olympic Book 4" / Suuri Olympiateos 4, published in Finland in 1984
  2. "European Athletics Championships 1978" / Yleisurheilun EM-kisat 1978, written by the "Runner" / Juoksija magazine's journalists and published in Finland in 1978
  3. "The Moscow Olympic Book" / Moskovan Olympiakirja, written by the "Runner" / Juoksija magazine's journalists and published in Finland in 1980
  4. "The Great European Championships Book" / Suuri EM-kirja, published in Finland in 1990
  5. "The World Athletics Championships 1983" / Yleisurheilun MM-kisat 1983, written by the "Runner" / Juoksija magazine's journalists and published in Finland in 1983
  6. "The World Athletics Championships 1987" / Yleisurheilun MM-kisat 1987
  7. "Profile of Markus RYFFEL | All-Athletics.com". Archived from the original on 2014-02-01.
External links