Irina Privalova

[Black Prince]

Does anyone know what's happened to Irina Privalova, and what exactly caused Gwen Torrence's retirement. And what was the major cause of the rivalry between torrence and Ottey?

Just wondering!

[michael lewis]

Re: Irina Privalova

The source of their lost love was Barcelona 92 after the women's 100 final where a blanket covered Devers, Cuthbert, Privalova and Torrence at the line. 10.82, 10.83, 10.84 and 10.86 wind -1.0. Post race remarks by Torrence that two of the medallists were on something caused an uproar and both Devers and Privalova were interviewed on tv to respond to the allegations. Some people believed all 3 medallists were taking something.

[Jon]

Re: Irina Privalova

>The source of their lost love was Barcelona 92
>after the women's 100 final where a blanket
>covered Devers, Cuthbert, Privalova and Torrence
>at the line. 10.82, 10.83, 10.84 and 10.86 wind
>-1.0. Post race remarks by Torrence that two of
>the medallists were on something caused an uproar
>and both Devers and Privalova were interviewed on
>tv to respond to the allegations. Some people
>believed all 3 medallists were taking something.
>



Bit more to the story...

After Torrence said all that, Devers expressed her frustration publicly, and so Torrence then expanded - she said that Devers wasn't one of the "two medallists" she thought was doping. Which, indirectly, meant that Torrence was accusing Privalova and Cuthbert.

As ana side, Privalova has spent this year trying to get to grips with the 800m. However, she still hasn't cracked it. She's ran a few indoor races and a few outdoor too, and they've all been in the 2:05 - 2:15 range. She should have stuck with the 400mH IMHO....

[waynehobley]

Re: Irina Privalova

She is to me one of the greatest female athlets of all time. Especially with track. I mean she has the 60m indoor world record. She has Olympic or World medals in the 100 and 200 great 400 speed
and an incredible 400h. Now she's trying the 800 what's next the mile?

[michael lewis]

Re: Irina Privalova

Why bother with the mile? Flojo went right to the marathon (or at least 5k road races) and we all know how judicious a move that was.

[Black Prince]

Re: Irina Privalova

Cheers for the responses!

I knew about Torrence's comments, but I still can't see how that intensified the rivalry between her and Ottey. I mean, you often saw Privalova and Torrence being civil, which is hardly something you'd expect if you'd been directly accused of cheating. any thoughts?

Does anyone know what happened to Gwen then? I saw her run a 60m I think in Madrid and pull up injured and thought she'd probably go quietly... Can anyone confirm this?

[michael lewis]

Re: Irina Privalova

As I recall Gwen wanted to run the 400 in the 2000 Olympic trials or the 99 USATF but hadn't made a qualifying mark, and they wouldn't let her. Absolute idiots. If Torrence had specialized over 400 she'd have gone under 48 and I wouldn't be surprised if she'd bettered Koch's world record. After all, she was as fast as Koch at 200 (arguably faster considering Gotheborg) and also ran 49 flat off 100/200 training.

Re: Irina Privalova

As to what happened to Gwen, she was honored at the last USATF national conference. I happened to sit next to her at the dinner and can report that she is a truly wonderful person. She's a hair stylist in Atlanta, and having a great time at it.

[waynehobley]

Re: Irina Privalova

Yeah I saw her at Junior Olympics in Miami this past summer.

[waynehobley]

Re: Irina Privalova

Well is Privalova still running?

[Jon]

Re: Irina Privalova

Yes, she is. Her times from this season are:

60m
7.43

400m
53.88 (indoors)
53.63
53.24

800m
2:09.86 (indoors)
2:09.40


I have a horrible feeling that she's going to give the 800m one more season....

Re: Irina Privalova

>The source of their lost love was Barcelona 92
>after the women's 100 final where a blanket
>covered Devers, Cuthbert, Privalova and Torrence
>at the line. 10.82, 10.83, 10.84 and 10.86 wind
>-1.0. Post race remarks by Torrence that two of
>the medallists were on something caused an uproar
>and both Devers and Privalova were interviewed on
>tv to respond to the allegations. Some people
>believed all 3 medallists were taking something.
>

Torrence was nothing but a hypocritical crybaby.

Re: Irina Privalova

Gwen was a complainer but she also helped track and field get a lot of much needed publicity with her performances on the track and off!

[DentyCracker]

Re: Irina Privalova

I never liked her, but she was a great athlete

[waynehobley]

Re: Irina Privalova

I always liked her athletic ability but I never new anything about her off the track. Anyway I was looking at Privalova's times from this year and I'm wondering was she injured because 7.43 is a long way from 6.92 I mean high school girls run 7.43.