Fatima Whitbread on Helsinki 1983

British javelin star recalls winning silver behind an inspired Tiina Lillak at the inaugural World Champs 40 years ago

When they started talking about having a World Championships everyone was quite excited by the prospect. It was really welcomed as far as I was concerned because it meant we would have better competition.

It was an amazing experience to have the inaugural one in a country that held javelin throwing in such high esteem. Finland’s Tiina Lillak was the women’s javelin world record-holder and Finnish athletics was based on its javelin throwers.

I had quinsy in the build-up, which is quite a serious illness, and was late into the village because of it. I knew it was always going to be touch and go in terms of whether I’d be able to compete and do my best, but once I’d declared myself fit I just had to get on with it.

I nearly went out in the qualifying rounds but advanced as the last qualifier, which gave me a boot up the backside, really.

After the qualifying rounds, my mum and I decided we’d go out for a quiet lunch somewhere. We took a little drive out into the countryside and went into this pub. I sat down at the table and my mum pointed above our table. There was a lifesize cardboard cutout of Lillak’s head.

In my very first throw of the final I laid the gauntlet down with 69.14m and that led until Lillak’s last throw.

It meant I had mixed emotions. Having come through as the last qualifier and nearly winning the first World Championships was an amazing experience but, at the same time, it was disappointing to have it snatched away with the very last throw. That’s sport.

But Helsinki is the home of javelin throwing and I threw against the world record-holder, nearly went out in qualifying and almost won, so it was a spectacular arrival on to the scene.

Introducing our August magazine cover as we look ahead to the World Championships 🥁

✅ Event-by-event previews of all the disciplines
✅ Exclusive interviews with Zharnel Hughes and Wayde van Niekerk
✅ Steve Cram reflects on his 1983 world 1500m title

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— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) August 10, 2023

» There are more memories from World Champs history from athletes such as Tony Jarrett, Hayley Tullett and Tiffany Porter in the August issue of AW magazine, which you can buy here