Javelin star talks about a life-changing moment, the joy of being able to make an important social impact, the power of rivalries and the desire to help British throwers rise to the top again
It was the perfect start. “I automatically thought: ‘Okay you lot. Get that!’” says Tessa Sanderson as she casts her mind back to the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics and her first throw in the javelin final. It flew to 69.56m, breaking the Olympic record.
The then 28-year-old had eased through qualification but the final had looked like being a considerably taller order. Two of her 11 fellow finalists in particular stood out. The first was reigning world champion Tiina Lillak who arrived as the world record-holder – under the old javelin model that was eventually changed in 1999 – with 74.76m.
Fatima Whitbread also had the Olympic gold medal in her sights, with the Briton having painfully lost out on the world title late on to Lillak in Hesinki. This top trio had all had to battle physical issues on the way to LA.
Lillak was dealing with a stress fracture to her right foot, Whitbread a stomach operation in the immediate build-up to the Games, while a ruptured Achilles tendon and then broken throwing arm in 1981 had ruled Sanderson out of action for 22 months and she had only returned to the global stage to finish fourth at the World Championships.
LA was an opportunity to create history. No British thrower had ever won an Olympic gold medal and Sanderson was desperate to improve on her previous two appearances at the Games, having placed 10th at Montreal 1976 before failing to get out of qualifying at Moscow 1980. There was a lot behind that opening throw in LA.
“I remember keeping myself very calm and quiet,” Sanderson tells AW. “I felt fairly confident in myself but I didn’t worry about Tiina and Fatima as I knew they’d throw well. I had to focus 100 per cent on myself.
“When I released the javelin I knew it was good. It was then about the point hitting the ground and making a mark. When it did that and a little bit of turf came out I thought ‘that’s it!’
“I just had the mindset of hitting it as hard as I could in the first round and then letting everybody else worry. That’s exactly what happened. It was just amazing. I knew it was a tough distance [to beat]. Win, lose or draw, follow that. That’s the way it was – I loved it!”
Los Angeles 1984 (Mark Shearman)
Lillak and Whitbread couldn’t better Sanderson’s mark. The Finn…
CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at AW…