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Following the retirement of East German Ruth Fuchs, it was her
countrywoman Petra Felke who assumed the mantle of the world's premier
women's javelin thrower. Felke established a sustained dominance of the
event during the 1980s with long winning streaks and World Records, but
in most instances, circumstances contrived to deny her victory in major
international competitions. Early in her career she finished second at
the World Cup in Rome in 1981, seventh in the 1982 European
Championships at Athens, and then ninth at the World Championships at
Helsinki in 1983.
She made rapid improvement during 1984 but was denied
the opportunity to compete at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games due to
the boycott by the Eastern Bloc countries. She really grabbed the
world's attention on 4 June 1985 at Schwerin where she broke the World
Record twice, throwing 75.26m in the second round, and reaching 75.40m
on her fourth attempt. She came to the 1985 World Cup in Canberra a
clear favourite, but was surprisingly beaten by Russian Olga Gavrilova.
She was the favourite again at the 1986 European Championships in
Stuttgart, but met Fatima Whitbread (Great Britain), who had broken
Felke's World Record in the qualifying round, in great form and Felke
had to settle for second. In 1987 Felke regained the World Record with a
throw of 78.90m at Leipzig on 21 July, but five weeks later she was
again upstaged by Whitbread at the World Championships in Rome.
On 9
September 1988, Felke not only broke her own World Record but also the
80 metres barrier, throwing exactly 80.00m at Potsdam. Less than three
weeks later, at the Seoul Olympic Games, she finally achieved the
victory she so richly deserved (see photo above © G. Herringshaw), relegating
Whitbread to second place. That proved to be the only gold that Felke
would win during her fine career and she was forced to settle for bronze
at the 1990 Europeans and silver at the 1991 Worlds. (Ron Casey)
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