Ruth Fuchs totally dominated the javelin throw in the international
arena during the 1970s, winning two Olympic titles, two European titles,
and setting six world records. From the days of competing as a junior
under her maiden name of Gamm, Ruth steadily improved her performances
prior to winning the bronze medal at the 1971 European Championships in
Helsinki with a throw of 59.16m. The following year, Fuchs broke her
first world record in quite remarkable circumstances. Ewa Gryziecka
(Poland) broke the 8 year-old world record of Yelena Gorchakova (Soviet
Union) at 5.45pm on 11 June 1972 with a throw of 62.70m at an
international match in Bucharest. Only 35 minutes late, at 6.20pm,
Fuchs smashed Gryziecka's newly set world record in an international
match in Potsdam, setting a new global standard of 65.06m.
At the
Olympic Games in Munich held later that year, Fuchs won the gold medal
easily with and Olympic record distance of 63.88m, the second best throw
in history behind her own world record. If there was any question as
to who was the new Queen of javelin throwing, Fuchs quickly dispelled
them in the European Cup final at Edinburgh on 7 September 1973, when
her first throw in the competition reached 66.10m, increasing her own
world record by over a metre. Fuchs was a stalwart supporter of
international matches for her country, regularly competing in
competition, including an easy win in an East Germany v United Kingdom
match at London (Crystal Palace) on 20 June 1974 (see photo above)
with a throw of 65.58m. Fuchs distanced herself further from the rest
of the world's javelin throwers at the 1974 European Championships in
Rome on 3 September, where she won the gold medal with another new world
record throw of 67.22m. (Ron Casey)
|
By the end of 1974, there was no doubt that Ruth Fuchs was the best
javelin thrower in the world, having won the Olympic and European titles
in the preceding three years, as well as setting three new world
records. As the rest of the world's throwers tried to close the gap on
her, Fuchs drew further away from them. At an Olympic Test meet in
Berlin on 10 July 1976, Fuchs set her fourth world record, reaching a
distance of 69.12m. Two weeks later at the Olympic Games in Montreal,
Fuchs gave her opposition no chance of beating her, sealing her second
Olympic gold medal on her first throw with a new Olympic record of
65.94m. The following year, in the World Cup at Dusseldorf on 2
September 1977, it seemed that Ruth's winning streak in major
international championships might come to an end, when she was only
lying fourth at the start of the fourth round.
However, Fuchs recovered
in the final round with a throw of 62.36m (see photo above photo G.H. © 2nd September 1977) to
win the gold medal. At the 1978 European Championships in Prague, Ruth
easily won her second European title, producing the year's longest throw
of 69.16m. Fuchs had relinquished her world record in 1977 to Kathy
Schmidt (USA), but on 13 June 1979, Ruth regained the record with a
throw of 69.52m at an Olympic Day meet in Dresden. Early in the 1980
season, Fuchs set her final world record of 69.96m at Split on 29 April.
However, Fuchs' days of dominance were quickly coming to an end. She
lost her world record two weeks before the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow
to Tatyana Biryulina (Soviet Union), and other athletes were also
approaching her best mark. At Moscow, plagued by back injury, Fuchs
could only finish in 8th place, prompting her subsequent retirement.
(Ron Casey).
After retirement from track and field, Fuchs became a member of Parliament for
the Party of Democratic Socialism (now the Left Party) in the re-united Germany.
|
Meisterschaft Rekord 1971 - 1980.
|
|
Speer Endrunde {Frauen}.
Europameisterschaft 1971
|
| 1. Daniela JAWORSKA |
|
POL |
|
61.00m. |
| 2. Aneli KOLOSKA |
|
FRG |
|
59.40m. |
| 3. Ruth FUCHS |
|
GDR |
|
59.16m. |
| 4. Angel RANKY |
|
HUN |
|
57.44m. |
| 5. Anneliese GERHARDS |
|
FRG |
|
55.98m. |
| 6. Eva GRYZIECKA |
|
POL |
|
55.96m. |
|
|
|
Speer Endrunde {Frauen}.
Olympische Spiele 1972
|
| 1. Ruth FUCHS |
|
GDR |
|
63.88m. |
| 2. Jacqueline TODTEN |
|
GDR |
|
62.54m. |
| 3. Kathryn SCHMIDT |
|
USA |
|
59.94m. |
| 4. Liutvian MOLLOVA |
|
BUL |
|
59.36m. |
| 5. Natasa URBANCIC |
|
YUG |
|
59.06m. |
| 6. Eva JANKO |
|
AUT |
|
58.56m. |
| 7. Ewa GRYZIECKA |
|
POL |
|
57.00m. |
| 8. Svetlana KOROLYOVA |
|
SOV |
|
56.36m. |
|
|
|
Speer Endrunde {Frauen}.
Europameisterschaft 1974
|
| 1. Ruth FUCHS |
|
GDR |
|
67.22m. |
| 2. Jacqueline TODTEN |
|
GDR |
|
62.10m. |
| 3. Natasa URBANCIC |
|
YUG |
|
61.66m. |
| 4. Lutwian MOLLOVA |
|
BUL |
|
60.80m. |
| 5. Sabine KARGEL |
|
GDR |
|
57.10m. |
| 6. Felicia KINDER |
|
POL |
|
57.02m. |
|
|
|
Speer Endrunde {Frauen}.
Olympische Spiele 1976
|
| 1. Ruth FUCHS |
|
GDR |
|
65.94m. |
| 2. Marion BECKER |
|
GER |
|
64.70m. |
| 3. Kathryn SCHMIDT |
|
USA |
|
63.96m. |
| 4. Jacqueline HEIN |
|
GDR |
|
63.08m. |
| 5. Sabine SEBROWSKI |
|
GDR |
|
63.08m. |
| 6. Svetlana BABICH |
|
SOV |
|
59.42m. |
| 7. Nadezhda YAKUBOVICH |
|
SOV |
|
59.16m. |
| 8. Karin SMITH |
|
USA |
|
57.50m. |
|
|
|
Speer Endrunde {Frauen}.
Europameisterschaft 1978
|
| 1. Ruth FUCHS |
|
GDR |
|
69.16m. |
| 2. Tessa SANDERSON |
|
GBR |
|
62.40m. |
| 3. Ute HOMMOLA |
|
GDR |
|
62.32m. |
| 4. Ute RICHTER |
|
GDR |
|
62.04m. |
| 5. Eva ZORGO |
|
ROM |
|
61.14m. |
| 6. Eva HELMSCHMIDT |
|
FRG |
|
60.96m. |
|
|
|
Women's Javelin Final.
Olympic Games 1980
|
| 1. Maria RUENES |
|
CUB |
|
68.40m. |
| 2. Saida GUNBA |
|
SOV |
|
67.76m. |
| 3. Ute HOMMOLA |
|
GDR |
|
66.56m. |
| 4. Ute RICHTER |
|
GDR |
|
66.54m. |
| 5. Ivanka VANCHEVA |
|
BUL |
|
66.38m. |
| 6. Tatyana BIRYULINA |
|
SOV |
|
65.08m. |
| 7. Eva RADULY-ZORGO |
|
ROM |
|
64.08m. |
| 8. Ruth FUCHS |
|
GDR |
|
63.94m. |