AW has an interesting article out on the WR and how ridiculous Kratochvílová’s double at Worlds was that year:
Trickiest of all was Tuesday August 9 when she won her 400m semi-final in 51.08 and the 800m final in 1:54.68 just 35 minutes later, although AW’s coverage at the time suggests there was as little as 24 minutes between her leaving the track after the 400m and returning for the 800m. Then, the following day, she passed 200m in 23.2 before clocking 47.99 in the 400m final to beat Koch’s world record of 48.16.
Kelly Holmes was another of a similar build who improved, disappeared quickly and didn't have kids.
Just look at who Holmes beat in the 1500m final and how many of those tested positive.
She's lucky she wears a British vest, and that the antics of Farah, Radcliffe, and Froome etc. have allowed her achievements to not be carefully questioned.
Americans from Slaney to Shelby clean as a whistle.
Just look at who Holmes beat in the 1500m final and how many of those tested positive.
She's lucky she wears a British vest, and that the antics of Farah, Radcliffe, and Froome etc. have allowed her achievements to not be carefully questioned.
Who did test positive ?
The ones I am tracking are:
2) Tatyana Tomashova (2-year ban in 2008)
4) Natalya Yevdokimova (4-year ban in 2017, results stripped 2009-2012)
5) Daniela Yordanova (tested positive for testosterone in 2008)
8) Elvan Abeylegesse (2-year ban in 2015, results stripped 2007-2009)
Call me incredibly delusional and naïve, but the more and more I've watched and read about her over the decades, I'm convinced she was clean. Funny that the 800m WR seemed like an afterthought in her quest to try to beat Koch (whom I think was on the sauce). There is something in the 1995 documentary that reminded me of Heiden (besides the obv gender comparison joke).
Call me incredibly delusional and naïve, but the more and more I've watched and read about her over the decades, I'm convinced she was clean. Funny that the 800m WR seemed like an afterthought in her quest to try to beat Koch (whom I think was on the sauce). There is something in the 1995 documentary that reminded me of Heiden (besides the obv gender comparison joke).
Hahaha dude - you are incredibly delusional and naive.
You are "convinced" she was clean. Not on the spectrum of entertaining it but convinced?
You're overthinking it my friend. The performance (it's not being beaten in our lifetimes unless someone can be so far ahead of the doping curve that they can beat it and disappear or time so that the performance still stands a-la Kiprop whos 3.26 still exists in the annuls). The era (it wasn't even really taboo or seen as something overly egregious to do performance enhancing drugs back then - it was as normal as taking vitamins). The optics (I'm not even going to bother posting an image because we have seen them all before).
As for the article? It's written in 1984 and it's an opinion piece. Come on now.
On July 26, 1983, Czechoslovakia’s Jarmila Kratochvilova set the world record in the 800m with an astonishing time of 1:53.28 in Munich, West Germany. She negative split in 56.82/56.46. She was 32 years old at the time. Primarily a 400m runner (Olympic silver in 1980), this was only the second time she had ever competed in the 800m. Her only previous race was in September 1982 when she ran 1:56.59.
Two weeks later, at the first World Championships held in Helsinki, Finland, Kratochvilova broke the world record in the 400m with a time of 47.99, becoming the first woman to break 48 seconds. (Her record was broken two years later by East Germany’s Marita Koch but remains the #2 time ever run). In addition to the WR and gold in the 400m, she also won gold in the 800m in a time of 1:54.68 (#7 all-time) and anchored the 4x400m relay to a silver medal.
At age 27, her best 200m was 23.96; five years later, at age 32, she ran the 400m at nearly the identical pace (47.99).
According to the World Athletics Tables: 23.96 = 1040 points = 54.28 = 2:07.05 47.99 = 1288 points 1:53.28 = 1286 points
Her 400m progression was as follows: Age 25 – 53.39 Age 27 – 51.09 Age 28 – 52.31 Age 29 – 49.46 Age 30 – 48.61 (#2 all-time when it was run) Age 31 – 48.85 Age 32 – 47.99 (World record at the time) Age 33 – 49.02 Age 34 – 49.89
Kratochvilova’s PRs at the time she set the 800m record were: 100m – 11.09 200m – 21.97 (4th fastest ever at the time, #3 performer – only Marita Koch and Evelyn Ashford had run faster) 400m – 48.45 (dropped to 47.99 two weeks later)
In 1943, the world record was 2:16.8; forty years later, the record was 1:53.28. Another forty years later, the record remains 1:53.28.
As far as I know, there is no video of the 800m race in its entirety. Below is a video of the second lap of the WR race. The 400m world record from Helsinki is also linked, as is a 1995 documentary about Kratochvilova.
Hahaha dude - you are incredibly delusional and naive.
You are "convinced" she was clean. Not on the spectrum of entertaining it but convinced?
You're overthinking it my friend. The performance (it's not being beaten in our lifetimes unless someone can be so far ahead of the doping curve that they can beat it and disappear or time so that the performance still stands a-la Kiprop whos 3.26 still exists in the annuls). The era (it wasn't even really taboo or seen as something overly egregious to do performance enhancing drugs back then - it was as normal as taking vitamins). The optics (I'm not even going to bother posting an image because we have seen them all before).
As for the article? It's written in 1984 and it's an opinion piece. Come on now.
Thanks for the thoughtful response. Yeah, I'm gonna add irrational (and a whole bunch of other descriptors) to the delusional and naive. What's making me think is, she's been coaching for a good what 30 years now? Have any of her athletes been popped? I haven't delved deeply into it, so I don't know. Kratochvilova might be one of the few (or only) "recent" distant track athlete I know who has won a Gold (WC) and coached someone else to a similar Gold (WC) - (would love to get corrected here - maybe there's a steepler who's done it).
Something about her just stands out from the rest of the "Eastern Bloc" regime, even though I know Czechoslovakia also had quite the systematic system in place for doping. I do wonder about the high doses of B12, though. Would love to read the book "Waiting" describing the 17 years starting in 1967 that Kratochvilova trained under Kvac, but I can't find it and don't even think it's been translated to English.
Kenny Moore was (and still is) the epitome of Track writing, imho. He's always carried a ton of weight for me.
Here's some of her training.
-take-off jumping and uphill sprints
-She ran 200-meter sprints 20 times, and on a steeper hill, 60-meter sprints 12 to 16 times.
-Punishing 300-meter interval drills -- 20 of them -- at a 47-second pace, which she executed with only a two-minute rest between each. Occam's Razor screams drugs or something else here, but it just reminds me of Heiden in a way.
Article profiles career of Jarmila Kratochvilova of Czechoslovakia, track star in 1980's who is currently coaching several Czech female athletes; photo (M)
When Czechoslovakia's Jarmila Kratochvilova appeared at a press conference on the UCLA campus this week, she was asked to discuss her future as a track coach.
So an athlete who likely doped has to have become a doping coach? She's didn't dope unless her athletes doped ? You also know none of her athletes were doping when most dopers aren't caught - like her - as only 1% of tests return a positive but the numbers doping are estimated to far outstrip that?
A record from the E Bloc era that has lasted for nearly forty years run by a "female" athlete built like Ben Johnson - sure it's "clean".
This post was edited 3 minutes after it was posted.
Thanks for the thoughtful response. Yeah, I'm gonna add irrational (and a whole bunch of other descriptors) to the delusional and naive. What's making me think is, she's been coaching for a good what 30 years now? Have any of her athletes been popped? I haven't delved deeply into it, so I don't know. Kratochvilova might be one of the few (or only) "recent" distant track athlete I know who has won a Gold (WC) and coached someone else to a similar Gold (WC) - (would love to get corrected here - maybe there's a steepler who's done it).
Something about her just stands out from the rest of the "Eastern Bloc" regime, even though I know Czechoslovakia also had quite the systematic system in place for doping. I do wonder about the high doses of B12, though. Would love to read the book "Waiting" describing the 17 years starting in 1967 that Kratochvilova trained under Kvac, but I can't find it and don't even think it's been translated to English.
Kenny Moore was (and still is) the epitome of Track writing, imho. He's always carried a ton of weight for me.
Here's some of her training.
-take-off jumping and uphill sprints
-She ran 200-meter sprints 20 times, and on a steeper hill, 60-meter sprints 12 to 16 times.
-Punishing 300-meter interval drills -- 20 of them -- at a 47-second pace, which she executed with only a two-minute rest between each. Occam's Razor screams drugs or something else here, but it just reminds me of Heiden in a way.
So your logic is then to look at the training plan/logs and say “well yeah, I mean look at this sort of training - is it any wonder she ran 47.99/1.53.28”?
Really? Do you understand how drugs work and when/why athletes take them?
So Kenny Moore was enamored with her back in ‘84 so that’s the end of any further critical discussion on Jarmila?
Believe what you want to kemosabe - do as many mental gymnastics as you need to.
It's also an anti-miracle that these 47s women couldn't get to 1:50. They're 4 seconds off the men's 400m world record, but 12 seconds off the men's 800m record. Three times bigger gap over just twice the distance.
This trend continues and accelerates as distance increases - they're 23 seconds behind at 1500m. About a minute and a half at 5000, even bigger slowdown.
But the sharp dropoff is between 400 and 800, and that is why I think the most dudely women 800 runners tend to dominate. That doesn't translate to longer distance because they're too big.
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