The Historic Series on Olympic Running (I): The Women’s 800 Metre Race

On friday, the 8. august 2008 the XXIX. Olympics begin in Beijing – and on friday, the 15. august the athletics will starts. Till there we publish a serie of the eleven running disciplines.

This series, however, is on the history of Olympic running—about the past, rich in medals, of the German track and field athletes from both East (GDR) and West (FRG).While in the past German track and field has been very successful at the Olympic Games, following results of the world championships Osaka 2007, one cannot expect too much in Beijing.

It seems even more appropriate then to remember the great achievements of the Germans in the past and to honour their performances. We will start off today with the women’s 800m race out of respect for the great achievements and as an inspiration for imitation.

800 m – The Distance for German Women:The first gold medal for Germany since the beginning of the Olympic Games

Looking back, the 800m distance appears to be the most successful discipline for German women at the Olympic Games. Three gold medals since 1928 are an impressive booty.

Amsterdam 1928
“August 2, 1928 is an historic date for German athletics.
On this day the jinx was finally broken which the German men had been futilely fighting. In the 800m race, Lina Radke-Batschauer (b. October 8, 1903 in Karlsruhe) won the first gold medal for Germany since the beginning of the Olympic Games,” wrote Ekkehard zur Megede in his book, “The History of Olympic Track and Field”, Volume 1, 1896 – 1936.

Lina Radke-Batschauer was not the favourite for the finals, even though she had set a new world record on August 7, 1927 in Breslau with a time of 2:23.7 minutes. Edith Trickey of England had been slightly faster with a time of 2:24.0 for the 880-yard distance (August 1, 1925).

In the finals, Radke-Batschauer began a spurt about 300 m before the finish, which she continued to the end, earning her the gold medal as well as a sensational new world record of 2:16.8. A second German runner, Marie Dollinger, who later had a successful career as a sprinter, crossed the finish in 2:23.0 in 7th place. Elfriede Wever came in 9th.
In 1928 the 800m distance was so new for the women that critics immediately remonstrated that the women so overextended themselves that they had to collapse in the grass after the finish. For that reason, the 800m race was eliminated for the women entirely from the Olympic programme until 1956.

The German women first appeared at the 800m again 32 years later in Rome in 1960

For the first time since the war, an all-German team composed of the DLV (German Athletics Association-FRG) and the DVfL (German Association for Athletics in the GDR) came together to the Games in Rome. Before the event there were tough try-outs in Hanover and Erfurt.
The world record had been improved dramatically from Radke-Batschauer’s 2:16.8 in 1928 to 2:04.3 by Ludmilla Lyssenko-Scherzowa (USSR – in Moscow on July 3, 1960).

Three German runners were in the finals on September 7th in Rome: Ursula Donath, Vera Kummerfeldt and Antje Gleichfeld. The Russian Scherzowa won, matching her own world record of 2:04.3 ahead of Brenda Jones (Australia) in 2:04.4. Ursula Donath surprisingly won the bronze medal in 2:05.6, although she was aided by the fact that Dixie Willis (Australia) fell and Vera Kummerfeldt started her sprint too late. Vera Kummerfeldt came in 4th in 2:05.6 ahead of Antje Gleichfeld in 2:06.5 – a great success for the middle distance runners from Germany.

5th place again for Antje Gleichfeld in Tokyo 1964
Antje Gleichfeld, a mother of two from Hamburg, managed to make it again to the Olympic finals and again came in 5th. In doing so she twice improved the German record previously held by Waltraud Kaufmann, first to 2:04.6 in the intermediate heat, and to 2:03.9 in the finals.
Ann Packer (GBR) won in 2:01.1 (new world record) ahead of Maryvonne Dupureur (FRA) in 2:01.9 and Marise Chamberlain (NZL) in 2:02.8.

“This was the best day in the life of the Olympic champion Hildegard Falck”
covered the title of the journal LEICHTATHLETIK (Track and field magazine)on September 14, 1972, referring to the victory of Hildegard Falck (b. June 8, 1949) in the 800m finals in Munich in 1972. There was a fantastic atmosphere in the stadium in Munich — the Germans had won medals: Klaus Wolfermann in the javelin, Heide Rosendahl won silver in the 200m, Bernd Kannenberg was leading the 50 km walkers. Would the 800m women’s race bring another gold medal?

Two German runners had qualified for the finals: Hildegard Falck (VfL Wolfsburg) and Gunhild Hoffmeister (b. July 6, 1944 in Forst/SC Cottbus, Trainer Werner Janke). Sylvia Schenk and Gisela Ellenberger were eliminated in the intermediate heats with respective times of 2:01.5 and 2:03.0.

There was some confusion before the final race on September 3, 1972 at 6 p.m. as they had considered pushing back the start to accommodate the walkers who would be arriving soon. But then they kept to the schedule. The first 400m were put behind them in 58.31, led by Zlateva, Nikolic and Silai, Falck holding on to Hoffmeister. Just before the final stretch, Hildegard Falck ran from lane 2 to 3, began a sprint and took the lead by about 4 or 5 metres. Then Niele Sabaite (USSR) made her move. On the last 20 metres, Falck increased her speed again and was able to win with a metre lead.

LEICHTAHTLETIK wrote: “An Olympic champion like in the book: a strong runner, able to adjust to changes in the pace, a hard fighter and smart tactician; the gold medal found one worthy of it.” Gold: Hildegard Falck 1:58.6 (OR) – silver: Niele Sabaite (USSR) 1:58.7 and the bronze medal went to Gunhild Hoffmeister 1:59.2.

Montreal 1976 with a bronze medal by Elfi Zinn
There were once again three women in the Olympic finals in Montreal in 1976. Elfi (Rost) Zinn (b. August 24, 1953 in Rathebur – SC Neubrandenburg – (Coach Walter Gladrow) came in third in 1:55.60 (new East German record). Gold went to Tatyana Kazankina (USSR) in 1:54.94 (WR) – 2nd Nikolina Shetereva (BUL) 1:55,42 –
3rd Elfi Zinn 1:55,60 – 4th place: Anita Weiss in 1:55.74 – 7th place Doris Gluth in 1:58.99.

Moscow 1980
4th Martina Kampfert in 1:56.21, 5th Hildegard Ullrich 1:57.20
1st Ndaiya Olizarenko (SOV) 1:53, 42 (WR) – 2nd Olga Mineyeva (SOV) 1:54,81 – 3rd Tatyana Providokhina (SOV) 1:55,46

Los Angeles 1984
7th Margrit Klinger in 2:00.65
1st Doine Melinte (ROM) 1:57,60 – 2nd Kim Gallagher (USA) 1:58,63 – 3rd Fita Lovin (ROM) 1:58,83

Seoul 1988. Gold and silver by Wodars and Wachtel
“In the Olympic 800m finals, Christine Wachtel (b. January 6, 1965 in Altentreptow / SC Neubrandenburg – Coach Walter Gladrow) ran the first 400m in 56.43, thus already leaving some of the finalists by the wayside. Together with Sigrun Wodars (b. November 7, 1965 in Neu-Kaliß / SC Neubrandenburg – Coach Walter Gladrow), they developed the race just as the two women from Neubrandenburg had planned,” wrote LEICHTATHLETIK.
“The results of the Olympic finals reflects the first and second place finishes in last year’s world championships in Rome, where Sigrun Wodars also came out stronger.”
1st Sigrun Wodars 1:56.10 – 2nd Christine Wachtel 1:56.64 – 3rd Kim Gallagher (USA) 1:56. 91

The history of the women’s 800m race is certainly something to be proud of—but several years without further great successes have passed since 1988.
Let us look back with pleasure at the great running past — and still look optimistically to the future.

The women are always good for a surprise!

Horst Milde

Results – Athens 2004

1. Kelly Holmes (GBR) 1:56,38 – 2. Hasna Benhassi (MAR) 1:56,43 – 3. Jolanda Ceplak (SLO) 1:556,43 – 4. Maria Mutola (MOZ) 1:56,51 – 5. Tatjana Andrianova (RUS) 1:56,88 – 6. Jearl Miles-Clark (USA) 1:57,27 – 7. Maria Cioncan (ROM) 1:59,62 – 8. Zulia Calatayud (CUB) 2:00,95 –

Claudia Gesell (GER) 4. VL 2:03,87

The story of ATHENS 2004: Olympics: Holmes wins Gold for Britain

24 hours after Paula Radcliffe’s marathon drama British fans got an unexpected gold medal to celebrate: Kelly Holmes won the 800 metres in 1:56,38 minutes. At 34 years she finally celebrated the biggest triumph of her career. She was just five hundredth of a second in front of Morocco’s Hasna Benhassi while Jolanda Ceplak (Slovenia) took the bronze in 1:56,43 Minuten. Maria Mutola (Mozambique) came in fourth with a time of 1:56,51. The winner of the Sydney Olympics missed the chance to become the first woman in Olympic history to win two 800 metre gold medals.

After the start Mutola was running in fifth place. Right behind her was Ceplak and in seventh position Holmes. It was at the beginning of the last lap when Mutola began moving towards the front, still with Kelly Holmes running behind her. Mutola was then leading the field when they entered the home straight. But Kelly Holmes was getting nearer and nearer with a tremendous effort. She passed Mutola, her partial training partner, and hold on to win her biggest title. Benhassi and Ceplak were coming strong from behind. But they were too late to stop Kelly Holmes, who absolutely deserves this gold medal.

“It was a hard race for me, because I had a muscle injury in July. Because of Kelly and me training together she knows my weak points. But she really deserves this gold medal”, Maria Mutola said. “I ran for my life on the home straight”, said the best ever British middle distance runner. “I had a lot of low points in my career, but this race today makes up for all misery.” At two Olympic Games and at a number of World Championships Kelly Holmes had been extremely unlucky. Before the Olympics in Atlanta she had suffered of a stress fracture. She finished fourth in this event. Four years ago she had a muscle injury before the games but managed to snatch a bronze medal. “Because of these bad experiences my main aim this year was to stay healthy”, Kelly Holmes said. Since 2002 Margo Jennings is her coach. He is the long time coach of Maria Mutola as well.

800 Metres – All Winners lt. IAAF
1928 Lina Radke GER 2:16.8 Kinuye Hitomi JPN 2:17.6 Inga Gentzel SWE 2:18.8
1932 to 1956: Not contested
1960 Lyudmila Shevtsova URS 2:04.50 Brenda Jones AUS 2:04.58 Ursula Donath GDR 2:05.73
1964 Ann Packer GBR 2:01.1 Maryvonne DupureurFRA 2:01.9 Marise Chamberlain NZL 2:02.8
1968 Madeline Manning USA 2:00.92 Ilona Silai ROU 2:02.58 Maria Gommers NED 2:02.63
1972 Hildegard Falck FRG 1:58.55 Niole Sabaité URS 1:58.65 Gunhild Hoffmeister GDR 1:59.19
1976 Tatyana Kazankina URS 1:54.94 Nikolina Shtereva BUL 1:55.42 Elfi Zinn GDR 1:55.60
1980 Nadyezhda Olizarenko URS 1:53.43 Olga Mineyeva URS 1:54.81 Tatyana Providokhina URS 1:55.46
1984 Doina Melinte ROU 1:57.60 Kim Gallagher USA 1:58.63 Fita Lovin ROU 1:58.83
1988 Sigrun Wodars GDR 1:56.10 Christine Wachtel GDR 1:56.64 Kim Gallagher USA 1:56.91
1992 Ellen van Langen NED 1:55.54 Liliya Nurutdinova EUN 1:55.99 Ana Quirot CUB 1:56.80
1996 Svetlana MasterkovaRUS 1:57.73 Ana Quirot CUB 1:58.11 Maria Mutola MOZ 1:58.71
2000 Maria Mutola MOZ 1:56.15 Stephanie Graf AUT 1:56.64 Kelly Holmes GBR 1:56.80
2004 Kelly Holmes GBR 1:56.38 Hasna Benhassi MAR 1:56.43 Jolanda Ceplak SLO 1:56.43