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Although Kathy Cook had competed in a number of individual finals at
major international championships, she had only won medals in relay
events up to the end of 1981. However, this situation quickly changed
in 1982, during Kathy's final season of competition under her maiden
name of Smallwood, prior to her marriage to British middle distance
runner Garry Cook. Kathy won her fourth WAAA 200m title early in the
season, and followed this with a superb set of performances at the
European Championships in Athens. In the 200m final at Athens, on 9
September, Kathy finished second (see photo above) behind Barbel
Wockel (East Germany), recording a new United Kingdom and Commonwealth
record of 22.13sec. Two days later, she won a second silver medal, as a
member of the United Kingdom 4 x 100m relay team which finished second
behind East Germany.
On that same day, Kathy also competed in the 4 x
400m relay final, where her opening leg helped the United Kingdom team
to a fifth-place finish. Less than one week later, at the Coke meeting
in London on 17 September, Smallwood demonstrated the amazing range of
her athletic talent, by winning the 400m in 50.46sec, to set a new
United Kingdom and Commonwealth record. The following month, on 7
October, at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Kathy won her second
medal for the year in an individual event at a major international
championships, when she finished a close second to Merlene Ottey
(Jamaica) in a wind-assisted time of 22.21sec. In the 4 x 100m relay
final, held two days later, Kathy was a member of the English team which
easily won the gold medal to successfully defend the title it had won
in 1978, in which team Kathy had also been a member. (Ron Casey)
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