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Abandoned as a baby, Fatima Whitbread spent an unhappy childhood raised
in children's' homes until she came under the tutelage of Margaret
Whitbread, who, with her husband John, formally adopted Fatima when she
was 14. At the time, Margaret Whitbread, who as Margaret Callender had
come 5th in the javelin at the 1958 Commonwealth Games, was the British
national javelin coach, which provided Fatima with the ideal environment
to develop into a javelin champion. In 1978, at only 17 years of age,
Fatima competed at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, where she
finished sixth. The following year, she produced a personal best of
58.20m to win the European junior title.
In 1980, Whitbread competed in
her first Olympic Games in Moscow, together with compatriot and
Commonwealth record holder, Tessa Sanderson, with whom Fatima would wage
an intense competitive rivalry throughout her career. Unfortunately,
at Moscow, both Fatima and Tessa threw below their bests in the
qualifying round, and failed to advance to the final. In September
1982, Fatima finished a creditable 8th at the European Championships in
Athens with a throw of 65.62m. However, at the Commonwealth Games in
Brisbane the following month, she only threw 58.86m, although this was
good enough to earn her a bronze medal in that much weaker competition.
Fatima made a significant breakthrough in 1983, defeating Sanderson for
the first time on 28 May, and improving her personal best to 69.54m on 3
July. At the World Championships in Helsinki, she only just made the
final, qualifying in the twelfth and last position. However, in the
final on 13 August, Whitbread (see photo above) threw 69.14m in
the first round to assume the lead. This held up as the competition's
best throw until the last round, when Tiina Lillak (Finland) bettered 70
metres to relegate Fatima to second place. (Ron Casey)
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