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Fatima Whitbread clearly established herself as one of the world's best
javelin throwers in 1983, when she finished second to Tina Lillak
(Finland) at the inaugural World Championships. It was also the year in
which Fatima first defeated compatriot and closest rival Tessa
Sanderson, who held the Commonwealth record. Whitbread and Sanderson
did not meet in the early part of the 1984 season, during which Fatima
set a new personal best of 71.86m on 29 April. The two eventually met
at the Peugeot-Talbot Games in London (Crystal Palace) on 13 July, where
Whitbread gained a narrow victory, throwing 67.96m to Sanderson's
67.88m. They met again in Birmingham two days later, where Whitbread
won by over four metres with her best throw of 67.16m easily beating
Sanderson's 62.54m.
The two did not meet again that year until the
Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where, in contrast to 1980 where they both
bowed out in the qualifying round, this time they both easily advanced
to the final, with Whitbread leading the qualifiers with her 65.30m
throw. In the final on 6 August, Sanderson led after round one with an
Olympic record of 69.56m, while Whitbread's 64.52m placed her in equal
second place. Fatima inched closer to Sanderson with her second throw
of 65.42m, but slipped to third behind Lillak's 69.00m. Fatima improved
again to 65.82m in round four, only to be relegated to fourth place
after a 66.40m throw from Tuula Laaksalo (Finland). Whitbread regained
third place from Laaksalo with her fifth round throw of 67.14m to win
the bronze medal behind Sanderson and Lillak. No British woman had ever
before won a medal in an Olympic throwing event, giving Whitbread (see photo above, at left) and Sanderson more than sufficient reason to celebrate together following the victory ceremony. (Ron Casey)
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