Despite having successfully returned in 1998 from the injury that caused
her to miss the entire 1997 outdoor season, Irina Privalova continued
to be plagued with injuries during 1999, and she competed sparingly
during that year. She won the 100m in the Russian national
championships at Tula on 29 July in a fast time of 11.05sec, but,
although she was entered in the 100m at the World Championships in
Seville, she subsequently withdrew from that competition.
Although
Privalova had recovered from injury by the beginning of 2000, she was
starting to take stock of her athletic career. Despite having been
highly competitive in Olympic Games and World Championships finals for a
decade, she had yet to win an individual gold medal, having won a
silver medal, three bronze medals, and produced four fourth place
finishes. The chances of her winning a gold medal in her regular events
at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney seemed slim, with Marion Jones
(USA) considered a certainty for the 100m/200m double, and the 400m
shaping up as a match race between Cathy Freeman (Australia) and
Marie-Jose Perec (France).
Privalova thus undertook the ambitious aim
at 31 years of age of winning an Olympic gold medal in a new event, the
400m Hurdles. She debuted at this event with a very impressive 54.49sec
at Moscow on 12 July. She improved on this to 54.21sec at Tula on 25
July, and then to 54.06sec when beating a quality field at Monaco on 18
August. At Sydney on 27 September, Privalova's story had a fairy tale
ending, when she easily won the Olympic Gold medal (see photo above)
in a sensational 53.02sec. To top it off, she anchored the Russian
team to a bronze medal in the 4x400m relay three days later. (Ron Casey)
|
PERSONAL BESTS.
100 Metres 10.77 Lausanne 06 JUL 1994
200 Metres 21.87 Monaco 25 JUL 1995
400 Metres 49.89 Moskva 30 JUL 1993
800 Metres 2:09.40 Moskva 27 JUL 2003
100 MH 13.56 Melbourne 02 MAR 2000
400 MH 53.02 Sydney 27 SEP 2000
High Jump 1.72 01 JAN 1982
Long Jump 6.45 Tallinn 23 JUN 1984
PERSONAL BESTS INDOORS.
50 Metres 5.96 Madrid 09 FEB 1995
60 Metres 6.92 Madrid 09 FEB 1995
60 Metres 6.92 Madrid 11 FEB 1993
100 Metres 11.31 Tampere 09 FEB 1999
200 Metres 22.10 Liévin 19 FEB 1995
300 Metres 35.45 Moskva 17 JAN 1993
400 Metres 50.23 Barcelona 12 MAR 1995
60 MH 8.16 Moskva 27 JAN 2000
Long Jump 6.48 Berlin 23 FEB 1985
Triple Jump 13.72 Moskva 26 FEB 1989