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Irina Privalova was the dominant European woman sprinter for over a
decade, achieving world-class performances in a variety of events, and
in both indoor and outdoor competitions. She first came to prominence
at the 1989 European Cup in Gateshead, where, competing under her then
married name of Sergeyeva, she finished third in the 100m and fifth in
the 200m. In 1990, she improved her personal best in the 100m to
11.21sec when winning the national championships in Kiev, and followed
this with a sixth place finish at the European Championships in Split.
Her performances rapidly improved after that, and in 1991 she quickly
moved from the ranks of a top European sprinter to a world-class
athlete.
At the World Indoor Championships in Seville on 8 March, she
caused a major upset by winning the 60m in 7.02sec, beating Jamaican
Merlene Ottey. Two days later, Privalova and Ottey again filled the
first two places in the 200m, but this time it was the Jamaican who
prevailed. Outdoors, at the European Cup meeting at Frankfurt in June,
Privalova was in a class of her own, winning both the 100m and 200m, as
well as anchoring the Soviet Union team to win the 4 x 100m relay. In
the World Championships at Tokyo in August, Privalova finished a
frustrating fourth in both the 100m and 200m, but got some recompense by
anchoring the Soviet team to a silver medal in the 4 x 100m relay.
In
1992, Privalova set a personal best of 10.82sec for 100m at Moscow on 22
June, and at the Barcelona Olympic Games on 1 August, she won the
bronze medal in the 100m final (see photo above, Privalova in lane 6). She also finished fourth in the 200m final, and won a silver medal in the 4 x 100m relay. (Ron Casey)
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