1986 European 400m women

Marita Koch's last international appearance...

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• 1986
• European
• 400m
• sprint
• women
• Marita
• koch
• 1980
• Moscow
• olympics

[bzach71]

Bravo aquamarine. My policy is simple to current sports ..whenever someone not american wins..they are cheaters!! Not only the GDR, the japanese swimmer (kosuke Kitjima), alain bernard , eamon sullivan etc...all are cheaters according to the americans. Honestly i loath the fact that they are blind towards their own sportsmen/women..just look a the muscles of the american athletes...even ben johnson looks puny in comparison.

[jokerwildest]

Or Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner, Florence Griffith, Valire Brisco, Gail Devers and the list goes on......

[puljacina]

the disgusting weather probably ruined a another sub 48 performane for koch

[JorgeDan75]

Very good race!

[HotChixAndMusic]

If it was JUST a case of drugs then everyone would be finishing together. No-one's telling me that the GDR was on something completely different to everyone else and something that the American's (or anyone else) couldn't get hold of.

Fact is, with a world class championship medalling and world record breaking range from 100m all the way up to 400m, Marita IS the greatest female sprinter of all time. (no one before or since has had such a range).

[dehart5]

Steriods helped Koch race well. Although she was fast at an early age she peaked at around 50.5 during 1976. She would not have gone faster than that without steriods. It is a shame because the training methods such as speed work and weight training has improved (I was a weightlifter) yet the women's times now in the 400M don't come close to the times in the 80's and her world record. She started steriods in 76.

[mahtivaari72]

@johnnyblack1974 It's known to be a fact that GDR had a systematic doping program and Marita Koch was surely part of it.

[paulouk83]

anyone who honestly believes koch was clean is in serious denial!

[808HwnHammah]

she looks like a dude. the rest of he sprinters look like real women

[olebarca99]

drugs or no drugs koch was still without doubt A great athlete, and would have still dominated in any era.

[stingfan1000]

Last international appearance?...she ran one more international race after this - Rome World Cup in Sept 86 where she beat the Americans - Brico-Hooks I think? They tried to persuade her to carry on to the World Champs in '87...but after a heavy training session (!) - (I'm waiting for the negative comments about drugs now..ha!) when she was dragging a tyre behind her (apparently - so I read) she decided to 'call it a day'... drugs debate continues (so what) - I always loved watching her races..

[vonkaunaz]

@bzach71 : Could not put it better myself; all these American freaks are to athletics what an ultra-conservative catholic is to sex. I, too, do not care for "illegal" substances taken by athletes. These nerds seem to believe that just by taking substances you will turn into a Marita Koch. Nothing could be further from the truth. They seem to believe that Koch was the doping one because she won, while the other girls on the track against are the innocent losers who were not doping.