Lyudmila KONDRATYEVA

Lyudmila Kondratyeva's first major international competition was the European Junior Championships at Athens in August 1975, where Lyudmila finished 4th in the 200m in 23.98sec. Kondratyeva's times gradually improved as she advanced into the senior ranks, and in 1978, she was selected to represent the Soviet Union at the European Championships in Prague. Lyudmila's personal best times prior to Prague were 11.35sec (100m) and 22.90sec (200m), which made her a definite contender for the final in each event, but there was little expectation of her possible medal prospects. In the 100m final, on 30 August, Kondratyeva ran a creditable 6th in 11.38sec behind Marlies Gohr (East Germany).

In the 200m, Kondratyeva raised some eyebrows when she won her semi-final in an impressive personal best of 22.83sec, although few thought she would trouble Gohr in the final, as the German was heavily favoured to win the sprint double. In the 200m final, on 1 September, the young Kondratyeva improved beyond probably even her own wildest dreams to win the gold medal (see photo above), in a new Soviet record time of 22.52sec, beating Gohr by a mere 0.01sec. Two days later, Lyudmila was a party to another defeat for Gohr, in the 4 x 100m relay final. The crack East German relay squad, anchored by Gohr, had set a world record of 42.27sec only two weeks earlier, and was considered a near certainty for the gold medal.

However, in Prague, the same squad only finished third, as the Soviet Union, with Kondratyeva running the third leg, won the gold medal in 42.54sec. At the World Cup in Montreal the following year, Kondratyeva won the bronze medal in the 200m in 22.66sec, finished 4th in the 100m the following day, and also anchored the Soviet team to a bronze medal in the 4 x 100m relay. (Ron Casey)

Lyudmila Kondratyeva established her credentials as a world-class sprinter when she won the 200m at the 1978 European Championships, narrowly defeating Marlies Gohr (East Germany). However, the news that Kondratyeva had broken Gohr's 100m world record of 10.88sec at the Soviet national championships in Leningrad on 3 June 1980 was met with some scepticism. One of the principal reasons that doubt was raised was the fact that Kondratyeva's time of 10.87sec represented a huge improvement on her personal best of 11.15sec. Additionally, for world record acceptance, the IAAF required a photo to be submitted, but the film used in Leningrad did not develop properly, and the times had been taken from a separate photoelectric cell device.

At the Moscow Olympic Games the following month, Kondratyeva won her first round 100m heat in 11.13sec, beating her 'official' personal best of 11.15sec. She further improved this time to 11.06sec when she won her second round heat. In the final on 26 July, which had developed into a match race between Kondratyeva and Gohr, Lyudmila got the better start, but she injured her hamstring at the halfway mark and could be seen gritting her teeth and losing ground as she fought to overcome the pain. Gohr drew level and the two raced neck and neck to the line where Kondratyeva (see photo above in lane 5) just edged out Gohr (lane 8) for the gold medal in 11.06sec. Kondratyeva's injury prevented her from competing in the 200m, and it also caused some people to reflect that if she could run 11.06sec with an injured leg, then maybe her 10.87sec time had some validity as a world record. Kondratyeva retired after the 1984 season, having been denied the opportunity to defend her Olympic title due to the eastern bloc boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. (Ron Casey).

	Lyudmila Kondratyeva	Soviet Union	11.06
	Marlies Göhr	East Germany	11.07
	Ingrid Auerswald	East Germany	11.14
4	Linda Haglund	Sweden	11.16
5	Romy Müller	East Germany	11.16
6	Kathy Smallwood	Great Britain	11.28
7	Chantal Réga	France	11.32
8	Heather Hunte	Great Britain	11.34

After she retired in 1984 she married Yuriy Sedykh, two time Olympic champion in the hammer throw, although they later divorced. The pair had a daughter, Oksana Kondratyeva, who followed in her father's footsteps and became an international hammer thrower.

She came out of retirement to compete at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. She made the semi-finals of the 100m and won a bronze medal as part of the Soviet women's 4 × 100 m relay.