Even now, more than nine years on, watching the 10,000m final at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg remains a thrilling spectacle.
At the bell, there are four men in with a chance of gold - but three have made their mark.
The race is led by Switzerland’s Christian Belz followed by Spanish pair Juan Carlos de la Ossa and Jose Manuel Martinez. Back in fourth, three metres away, is German Jan Fitschen. Time is running out, he needs to make his move.
As the lap unfolds, and the pace hots up even more, it looks like Fitschen will be out of the medals, de la Ossa having taken over with 300m left.
The gap between the three and Fitschen is now five metres.
But then, suddenly, with brilliant reserves of energy, Fitschen unleashes his move. He is quickly into third, passing Belz but the leaders are still in charge and de la Ossa looks like the champion.
Fitschen closes more as the race hits the home turn and you know something special awaits, and so does the crowd at the Ullevi Stadium as the noise levels rise.
On the outside, Fitschen, into lane two, goes for it, his face an incredible image of determination, as he takes over, powering on and winning with a classic performance in a personal best (28:10.94) from Martinez (28:12.06) and de la Ossa (28:13.73).
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The reflections of this race are both poignant and pertinent this week because at the age of 38, Fitschen has announced his retirement from the sport.
He has not competed since 2013 as injury problems have prevented him training at a high level, and four months ago he needed surgery.
Even now, the words of the man himself show just what that triumph from 8 August 2006 still means.
Speaking to leichtathletik.de, he said: 'Gothenburg is for me still incomprehensible, because it came so unexpectedly. This run has totally knocked over my life. Had I only finished fourth, one would have perceived me completely different.'
Yet he added: 'I now have two years without proper (running) training, which at my age is just too much.'
But the memories remain, as clear as they did all those years ago.