 |
Yarmila KratokhvilovaCzech track and field athlete
Date of Birth: 26.01.1951
|
Content:
- The Unbreakable Record
- The Road to Greatness
- International Success
- The "Eternal" Record
- A New Chapter
- The Anatomy of a Record
The Unbreakable Record
In 2020, the oldest track and field world record turned 37 years old: the 800-meter mark set by Czechoslovakian runner Jarmila Kratochvílová in 1983. At 1:53.28, many believe it will never be broken. Radio Prague remembers the career of one of Czechoslovakia's greatest 20th-century athletes.
The Road to Greatness
Born on January 26, 1951, in Golčův Jeníkov, Kratochvílová stumbled upon track and field by chance. A physical education teacher spotted her in a school race and suggested she join the athletics club. Initially hesitant about the commitment, it took the teacher a year to convince her. "At first, I was an average runner and without the discipline, I wouldn't have achieved anything. There was no time for boys or discos. At first, I didn't enjoy it, but then I got into it when I started competing," Kratochvílová later recalled in an interview with Sport.cz.
Despite the lack of financial support for athletes, Kratochvílová worked part-time while pursuing a degree in physical education. "I got up at four in the morning. There was hardly any time left for sleep, but I didn't think about it then," she remembers.
International Success
Kratochvílová won her first national title in 1974 and made her international debut in 1978, competing in the 400m at the Pravda-Televize-Slovnaft meet in Bratislava. After her impressive finish, she asked a reporter, "Do you think I can run faster than that?" She did indeed.
In her first and only Olympics in 1980, she took bronze, losing only to the unbeatable Marita Koch. The unforgettable finish in Moscow, with a tearful Kratochvílová clutching her head in disbelief at her silver medal, remains etched in the minds of many fans.
Finally, after Moscow-80, Kratochvílová received proper recognition. She received a stipend and could fully focus on training. She joined the Central Sports Training Center and the Prague athletics club. The impact was immediate. In 1981, she beat Koch at the World Cup in Rome. In 1982, she set the indoor 400m world record. And in 1983, her moment of glory arrived.
The "Eternal" Record
On the eve of the first-ever Athletics World Championships in Helsinki, she set the "eternal" 800m mark that remains unbroken. In the Finnish capital, she then crushed all opponents, taking gold in both the 400m and 800m.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, track and field progressed at an unprecedented pace, and the competition was fierce. Remarkably, even today, the world records in the 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m are held by three leading athletes of that era: Florence Griffith-Joyner, Marita Koch, and Kratochvílová.
It took many years for the former runner to fully grasp the magnitude of her achievements. "So much time has passed since then. The latest European Athletics Championships just ended, and before the start of the 800m, I again saw the records screen with my name next to the world record. It was then that I realized that no one has ever surpassed it."
A New Chapter
Kratochvílová had no intention of stopping. She had hopes of adding an Olympic gold medal to her collection in 1984. But that dream was dashed by the Soviet Union's boycott of the Los Angeles Olympics, joined by most socialist countries. After realizing she wouldn't be able to compete, she retired early from the season.
In 1985, she suffered an injury that put her out of action for a year and a half. It led to her retirement from athletics and a transition to coaching.
Today, over 60 years old, living in the town where she still trains athletes, Kratochvílová says, "I am very happy that I can do what I love and what I know how to do. Athletics has been an essential part of my life, if not the most important, and I would like to continue doing it."
The Anatomy of a Record
Over the past 35 years, no female athlete has come close to breaking Kratochvílová's record. As Michal Dušík, a sports commentator for Czech Television, puts it, "Jarmila Kratochvílová was a phenomenon. Just look at the margins of victory in the 400 and 800m when she broke the world records. It seems to be the limit of what's biomechanically possible for humans in their current anatomy."
Dušík explains why modern runners cannot match Kratochvílová's times. "She possessed the qualities an extraordinary athlete needs: the will to overcome any obstacle on the path to success and the incredible ability to push herself during training. Competition in women's sports is also slightly less intense than in men's. And as paní Jarmila mentioned, health and the ability of the body to withstand enormous loads are crucial factors. Almost none of the most talented runners have avoided injuries since then."
