marita koch 47.60

[basehead617]

i didnt look around to see if this has been posted before but, if any of you have ever wanted to see koch's absolutely mindboggling WR, here it is on this page..

http://www.cmfaq.com/design/track4dummi ... 60s_X.html

[Bob Duncan]

Re: marita koch 47.60

I watched the video and it really seemed speeded up. So I timed it with my watch and nope, that was an honest depiction. She was really hauling a**! Still incredible to watch. I'd like to see a high quality version of the race.

[Rob]

Re: marita koch 47.60

..

[The Fern]

Re: marita koch 47.60

But does anyone believe it was a clean performance????

[FrankS]

Re: marita koch 47.60

Interestingly, when Koch won the her Olympic title, the bronze medal went to UK's Kathy Cook. Now, I've heard it claimed that both Koch and the silver medalists performances were drug assisted. If this is true it makes Kathy's performance a gold medal performance which is very sad as Kathy is now a half-forgotten athlete - even to sports' fans - rather than the house-hold name she would have become with the gold medal. I realise this situation has undoubtedly been repeated time and time again with other athletes in the " drugs" era.

[Powell]

Re: marita koch 47.60

1. Cook won her Olympic bronze in LA, behind Brisco-Hooks and Cheeseborough.

2. How can you be so sure she was clean?

[FrankS]

Re: marita koch 47.60

Talk about getting things mixed up! And, of course, we don't know who is or isn't on drugs. And therein lies a big credibility problem. I'm very suspicious of record setters who are far in advance of everyone else's achievements, but that would include Coe's 1981 800m record AND I don't believe for a second that Coe was on drugs - or was Kipteter, who broke it. BUT,for example, looking at Women's world records - on this site - there are many who would say most are very suspicious. But not our Paula's - of course!

[Powell]

Re: marita koch 47.60

Very typical approach... If a western European or African athlete sets a phenomenal record, s/he's a hero. If an eastern European one does it, s/he's on drugs.

[FrankS]

Re: marita koch 47.60

My reference to "our Paula" was supposed to be ironic!

[tandfman]

Re: marita koch 47.60

>I watched her run that race 'live' in 1985, and I've watched replays of it maybe a hundred times since then, and I still believe it is the single greatest athletic performance I have ever seen.<

I, too, watched it live (without quotation marks--I was there) in 1985 but have not seen a replay since. Yes, I was impressed by what she did. But before we get too carried away, let's remember that there's an altitude factor at work in Canberra. It's not so high as to stigmatize the mark with the statisticans' A, but it's high enough to provide a modicum of help to speed event performances. I think it's no coincidence that of all the times Koch and the DDR 4x100 team ran, they PR'ed in Canberra and the records they set there are the only sprint/hurdle/jump WR's that survive from as far back as 1985, except for Kratochvilova's 400m record, which was also set at more than 500m of altitude.

[FrankS]

Re: marita koch 47.60

Yes, Ben Johnson looked awesome - so what!

[tafnut]

Re: marita koch 47.60

Koch was outed when the DDR fell. If you are impressed with her speed, you'll really like watching men run. They go even faster.

[kuha]

Re: marita koch 47.60

To the two respondents above: very well said!

[Rob]

Re: marita koch 47.60

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[marknhj]

Re: marita koch 47.60

Of course it's awesome but it was almost certainly drug-aided so...so what? Essentially meaningless apart from showing the effectiveness of steroids. No young athlete should be permitted to see it! There's zero chance that Kathy was on steroids and, as I've mentioned before, she's a perfect example of a legit athlete being denied fame and fortune by competing in such a tainted era.