Big Event

[DoubleRBar]

This month's (May) "Big Event" was a world record set 42 years ago today and set in a nation which no longer exists.

The athlete that set this world record never competed in the Olympic Games.

Both the athlete that set this "Big Event" and the athlete that had the old world mark represented countries which no longer exist.

I can tell you that the event we are talking about is not a field event.

Can you name the event, the athlete that set the record, and the city where this "Big Event" took place?

Extra credit if you can give the exact mark.

Remember, no research is allowed.

[cigar95]

Well, 1980 in the spring suggests that the DDR and the Soviet Union are good candidates for the countries involved. (Your wording suggests it was two different countries - if that's not the case I will growl.) Soviet men did not set a lot of WRs on the track. So which events did the two communist titans overlap in their WR settings?

I'll take a flyer and say it was the "controverisal" 10.87 100 meters by Lyudmilla Kondratyeva, breaking Merlies Oelsner's 10.88. (Can't recall if she was married yet when she ran the 10.88.) I think that was 1980, and that it was relatively early in the year.

Another possibility would be the 100H, or maybe even the 400H, which was still an emerging event at the time. In the latter case, I don't think the Soviets had embraced it yet.

[DoubleRBar]

You are off to a pretty good start, cigar95. You're right about the two countries (East Germany and the Soviet Union), but you have the wrong event (100 meters). You are on the right "track".

[mcgato]

Women's 1500 could be a possibility too.

[DoubleRBar]

Women's 1,500 is too long and the women's 100 is too short.

[cigar95]

So I looked up the Kondratyeva mark - it was achieved on 3 June, so I was in the ballpark. I can't remember how soon it was before it was "discredited", but my guess is it was never ratified.

[cigar95]

Bump - no one ever got this, and since I looked it up I'm not eligible. (Also a bit embarrassed once I found out.)

[Trickstat]

I reckon it may have been an event that didn't debut in the Olympics until 1984 - the women's 400H. Karin Rossley (GDR) breaking the record of Marina Makeyeva (USSR)?

[DoubleRBar]

Very good, Trickstat. The "Big Event" for May was Karin Rossley (East Germany/DDR) breaking the world record in the women's 400 hurdles. She ran 54.28 to break Marina Makeyeva's (Soviet Union) world mark of 54.78.. Rossley set this record in Jean, East Germany.

Thank you, Trickstat, cigar95, and mcgato.

[cigar95]

I always felt, at least subconsciously, like the Rossley performance was first "serious" record in the event. It lasted longer than just "until the next big race". About three years, as I recall.

And if she's the one I'm remembering, she was the object of my "track crush" for a while.

I'm a bit shamed of how I misremembered the timeline of the event, as the three previous record holders had all been from the URS. So my comment about the soviets not taking up the event yet was off-base.

[The Klingon]

Very good, Trickstat. The "Big Event" for May was Karin Rossley (East Germany/DDR) breaking the world record in the women's 400 hurdles. She ran 54.28 to break Marina Makeyeva's (Soviet Union) world mark of 54.78.. Rossley set this record in Jean, East Germany.

Thank you, Trickstat, cigar95, and mcgato.

Is it Jean, East Germany? Or did you mean Jena, East Germany?

[DoubleRBar]

Yes, I did mean Jean, however I bet there might be a Jean living in Jena.

Thank you, The Klingon.