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Tatyana Samolenko had been relatively unknown in international athletics
circles prior to 1986, the year in which she emerged to claim a silver
medal in the 1500m at the European Championships in Stuttgart. By early
the following year, Samolenko had matured into the best middle-distance
runner in the world, emphatically demonstrating her strength by often
competing in two events at major meets. In the indoor season Tatyana
achieved early success when she won both the 800m and 1500m titles at
the Soviet national championships. In March, at the World Indoor
Championships in Indianapolis, she ran away from the leading pack on the
last lap of the 3000m to win easily, and followed this performance with
a second-place finish in the 1500m the next day.
Samolenko carried
this form through to the outdoor season where she won the 800m at the
European Cup in Prague on 27 June, relegating world record holder
Jarmila Kratochvilova to second place in the process. However, in her
more familiar event, the 1500m, held the following day, Tatyana was
narrowly beaten by Kirsty Wade (United Kingdom), marking one of the rare
occasions when Samolenko found herself outsprinted at the end of a
race. In the 3000m final at the World Championships in Rome, held on 1
September, Samolenko followed a slow early pace before sprinting clear
of her opponents during the last lap to win easily (see photo above)
from reigning Olympic gold medallist Maricica Puica (Romania) in a time
of 8min38.73sec.
In the 1500m final, held four days later, the East
Germans worked as a team to try to nullify Samolenko's sprint finish by
setting a fast early pace. However, it was to no avail, as again
Tatyana sprinted away from the field to win a second gold medal in a new
personal best of 3min 58.56sec. (Ron Casey)
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