17 August 1984 Praha
International, Friendship Games, Strahov Stadium
400m Women final A
1. 48.16 Marita Koch GDR (34.68 at 300m, WB)
2. 48.73 Taťána Kocembová TCH (35.14)
3. 49.52 Olga Vladykina URS
4. 49.89 Marya Pinigina URS
5. 49.94 Jarmila Kratochvílová TCH
6. 50.85 Rositsa Stamenova BUL
7. 50.96 Kirsten Emmelmann GDR
8. 51.94 Ana-Fidelia Quirot CUB
Although Friendship Games officials denied that the Games were a counter-Olympic event to avoid conflicts with the International Olympic Committee, the competition was often dubbed the Eastern Bloc's "alternative Olympics". (Wikipedia).
Athletes learned in May 1984 that they would be barred to competed at the Olympic Games due to the boycott. Druzhba-84 in Moscow (men) and Prague (women) was not really a consolation... Their motivation suffered but athletes still managed to produce outstanding performances, often surpassing results achieved by their Western-world rivals in Los Angeles a few days earlier.
That was the case for women’s 400m. Valerie Brisco-Hooks won the Olympic title in 48.83. But Marita Koch was even faster, beating the top 3 from the previous year’s world championships :
« Today, first of all, I needed to win. In advance, my coach and I carefully planned the race tactics. It was decided to start the race extremely fast. And my tactical recipe turned out to be correct. It ensured my victory. I cannot but be satisfied with the result of 48.16. It is only one hundredth of a second behind my GDR record, which I set in Athens at the European Championships. I hope that next year Yarmila Kratochvilova and I will be in good shape and delight athletics fans with our performances. »
(Translated from Legkaya Atletika 10/1984)
2 окт 2024
