Jarmila Kratochvílová’s 800m mark of 1:53.28 was set 40 years ago, but rather than being celebrated it is mired in controversy
On July 26 in 1983, Jarmila Kratochvílová arrived at the Olympiapark Meeting in Munich’s Olympic Stadium as a 400m specialist with intentions of testing her speed over 200m. After a touch of cramp, though, she decided to switch to running the 800m. Her subsequent time of 1:53.28 sent shockwaves through the sport and now, 40 years later, it remains the oldest outdoor world record in the book.
The performance persuaded the Czech athlete to attempt an audacious 400m and 800m double at the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki the following month. Such was her form, she pulled it off, with 800m victory in 1:54.68 followed by a 400m world record of 47.99, although the latter was beaten two years later by her great rival, Marita Koch of East Germany, who ran a time of 47.60 in Australia which still stands as the fastest mark in history.
Both records are considered virtually untouchable. Some have described the marks as “toxic” with accusations of doping. Whereas the state-organised programme of East Germany is well documented, the situation is not as clear in the former Czechoslovakia, however, although there is evidence that a “specialized care” system existed for athletes, with doping likely.
Kratochvílová, who is now 72, has always denied knowingly taking drugs. Instead, herself and her coach, Miroslav Kvac, insisted the performances were down lots of physical work during her upbringing on a farm, huge amounts of weight training and large amounts of vitamin B12.
When there have been suggestions in the past to scrap these old world records, Kratochvílová has reacted angrily. “Complete nonsense,” she said in 2017. “I have never taken banned substances.”
Reacting to criticism of her muscled physique, she added: “When you work as hard as I did, you have to sacrifice some of your looks. The women of the West don’t work as hard as I did.”
According to reports at the time, Kratochvílová was so motivated that she trained at 4am and refused to have an afternoon rest. There are stories of her sprinting in spikes on a frozen pond when her local cinder track was covered in snow in the winter and, when once recovering from Achilles surgery, Kratochvílová ran repetitions through a foot of water in a pool wearing a weighted vest and put a gas…
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