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Fatima Whitbread had finished off the 1987 season in grand style,
defeating world record holder Petra Felke (East Germany) to win the
javelin title at the World Championships, repeating the result of their
clash at the previous year's European Championships. Felke continued
her top form into the 1988 season, breaking her own world record, and
remaining undefeated in competition prior to the Olympic Games in Seoul.
In contrast, Whitbread had all sorts of woes during 1988, including
injuries to her hamstring, heel, and throwing shoulder, the surgical
removal of an abscess, and a debilitating bout of glandular fever. She
finally started to get her season back together in mid-August, winning
at a number of meets, including a 69.40m victory at the McVitie's
Challenge (see photo above) at London (Crystal Palace) on 28
August, only four weeks before the Olympics.
In the qualifying round at
Seoul, on 25 September, Fatima failed to reach the qualifying standard
on her first two throws, but then came through on her third and final
attempt to reach 68.44m, which proved to be the best throw of the day.
In the final held the following day, Felke effectively finished the
competition in round two, with an Olympic record of 74.68m. Coming into
the last round, Whitbread's best of 67.82m was only just shading
Felke's teammate Beate Koch for second place, before Fatima threw 70.32m
on her final attempt to clinch the silver medal. After missing the
1989 season following a shoulder operation, Whitbread's magnificent
career came to an unfortunate end at the UK Championships in Cardiff on 3
June 1990, when she fractured her shoulder trying to improve on her
third-place effort of 51.50m, a distance that she would have considered
mediocre in the prime of her career. (Ron Casey)
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