1983 World Championships in Athletics – Women's marathon

Long-distance running race at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics Women's marathon 1983 World Championships File:Athletics-World-Championship-1983.jpg The marathon started and finished at the Olympic Stadium Helsinki Olympic Stadium 7 August 1983 63 31 2:28:09 Grete Waitz NOR Marianne Dickerson USA Raisa Smekhnova URS 1987 The women's marathon was one of the road events at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland. It took place on 7 August 1983, starting and finishing at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. The race was won by Norway's Grete Waitz in 2:28:09, ahead of Marianne Dickerson of the United States in second and the Soviet Union's Raisa Smekhnova in third. In warm conditions, Rumiko Kaneko of Japan and Ireland's Carey May led in the early stages, before Jacqueline Gareau of Canada took over, trailed by a pack of runners which included two of the favourites, Waitz and Julie Brown. Ireland's Regina Joyce took the lead by the 12 mile on point and opened a gap of around 30 seconds ahead of the chasing group. After 19 miles, she was caught by a group led by Waitz, who was increasing the pace of the race. Gradually those running with her dropped back, leaving her to win the race by three minutes. Smekhnova was just ahead of Dickerson when they entered the stadium, but was passed by the American in a sprint finish. Background The women's marathon was not an established event at an international level. It had not featured in the Olympic Games and had only become popular during the 1970s. Historically, some experts claimed that running the marathon distance, 26 mi 385 yd, was dangerous for women's health. As it gained prominence through the 1970s, there were calls for it to be added to the Olympics, though there was significant opposition. The governing body for athletics, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF, now World Athletics) announced that it would be added to the programme for the inaugural World Championships in Athletics in 1983,Olympic Marathon: A Centennial History of the Games' Most Storied Race Lovett Charles 1997 Praeger Westport, Connecticut 978-0-2759-5771-1 125–129 making it the first global championships to feature a women's marathon.https://www.athleticsweekly.com/iaaf-world-championships/world-championships-womens-marathon-30524/ World Championships: Women's marathon Athletics Weekly 26 July 2015 6 July 2020A women's marathon had also been included in the 1982 European Athletics Championships. In 1983, an American runner, Joan Benoit, established a new fastest time for the women's marathon, when she ran 2:22:43 at the 1983 Boston Marathon; cutting almost three minutes off the previous fastest time, held jointly by Allison Roe of New Zealand and Norway's Grete Waitz. Of the three, only Waitz was taking part in the World Championships:https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54577454/ Great Grete Wilkinson Jack The Atlanta Constitution 3 July 1983 6C Newspapers.com Benoit did not run in the Avon International Marathon in Los Angeles, which the United States used as a qualifying race, choosing to focus on shorter distances instead.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54577587/ The marathon women Levin Richard The San Francisco Examiner 2 June 1983 F5 Newspapers.com In Benoit's absence, The Observer and The Times described Waitz as the favourite for the race.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54578120/ Race to the top of the world The Observer 7 August 1983 35 Newspapers.comhttps://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS134581509/TTDA?u=wikipedia&sid=TTDA&xid=47e2331d Favourites for medals The Times 5 August 1983 8 Gale The American press rated Julie Brown as their best chance of victory in the race; writing in the Hartford Courant, Amby Burfoot said that despite the fact Waitz had beaten Brown in their previous meetings, Brown had "recently brought a new maturity to her road racing".https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54578422/ Events at Helsinki May Outshine L.A. Burfoot Amby Amby Burfoot Hartford Courant 6 August 1983 C6 Newspapers.comhttps://www.newspapers.com/clip/54578545/ Olympics taking back seat to World Championships? Concannon Joe The Boston Globe 7 August 1983 48 Newspapers.com The race started at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, and moved onto the streets of Helsinki, following an undulating course that Brown suggested would prevent fast times. The course passed Helsinki's docks, looped around the shore road, and past Market Square. After looping through downtown Helsinki, they returned to the stadium along the same route, to finish on the track. Summary The race started at 15:05 local time on 7 August 1983,https://vault.si.com/vault/1983/08/15/splendor-and-agony-in-helsinki https://web.archive.org/web/20200702160843/https://vault.si.com/vault/1983/08/15/splendor-and-agony-in-helsinki dead July 2, 2020 Splendor and Agony in Helsinki Moore Kenny Kenny Moore (runner) Sports Illustrated 15 August 1983 25–29 4 July 2020 the opening day of the Championships,https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/1st-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-6988504 Timetable-by-Day: 1st IAAF World Championships in Athletics World Athletics 2 July 2020 in clear, dry conditions, with temperatures of around 21 C. Early on, Japan's Rumiko Kaneko and Ireland's Carey May led, passing the 5 km mi flip mark in 18:14.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54688090/ Waitz wins marathon; Juantorena hurt The Baltimore Sun B4 8 August 1983 Newspapers.com Canada's Jacqueline Gareau then established a small lead, passing the 10 km mi flip on mark in 36:13, around 20 yards ahead of a pack which included: Waitz of Norway; all three United States runners, Marianne Dickerson, Debbie Eide and Brown; Rosa Mota of Portugal; Italy's Laura Fogli and May from Ireland. 2 miles In later, Gareau still led, and the pack behind her had grown to include 13 runners. David Miller, a journalist for The Times, criticised her inexperience in pressing ahead too early, but Gareau said it was the only way she could secure a good finishing position.https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS370248968/TTDA?u=wikipedia&sid=TTDA&xid=3d1e8e98 How the world greeted the crowning of Grete the great Miller David The Times 8 August 1983 22 Gale Her lead, which peaked at around 30 seconds,https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54569163/ Waitz's fitting first Rodda John The Guardian 8 August 1983 16 Newspapers.com was eroded and she was passed by Ireland's Regina Joyce between 10 and 12 mi into the race.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54569106/ Waitz waltzes in marathon; Juantorena has surgery Associated Press The Courier-Journal 8 August 1983 C1 Newspapers.com Waitz asked Brown if she thought they should go with her, but Brown said no: "She'll come back to us". Joyce, who had also opened up a lead of 30 seconds at one stage, led the race until the 19 miles on mark, when a surge from Waitz broke up the chasing group, and she led a smaller pack of five runners at the front. Along with Waitz were two Soviet athletes, Lyutsia Belyayeva and Raisa Smekhnova, Dickerson and Joyce. Running into the wind, they formed a single-file procession behind Waitz. 2 miles In later, Waitz was clear at the front; Smekhnova had tried to stay with her for as long as possible, but Waitz continued to extend her lead. Brown was unable to match the leaders' pace from around the 20 miles on stage due to an Achilles injury and dropped out of the race completely three miles later. Behind, Joyce had dropped out of medal contention when she had to stop for a toilet break, leaving Dickerson to vie with Smekhnova for second place. The American athlete was around 130 yards behind Smekhnova with 3.2 miles of the race remaining, but was closing the gap. Waitz won the race in 2:28:09 and had time to complete a victory lap before Smekhnova narrowly led Dickerson as they entered the stadium. Dickerson had enough energy left for a sprint finish, and passed Smekhnova on the bend of the track, and finished second in 2:31:09, exactly three minutes behind Weitz, and four seconds ahead of Smekhnova, who claimed the bronze medal. Mota finished in fourth, while the early race leader, Gareau, placed fifth. Waitz, who was running her first female-only race, said that the makeup of the race changed her tactics significantly, as there were no men around her to share the pacing responsibilities: "Here, the final time didn't really matter. The idea was to win the Championship." Results + Resultshttps://www.worldathletics.org/results/world-athletics-championships/1983/1st-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-6988504/women/marathon/final/result Marathon women: 1st IAAF World Championships in Athletics World Athletics 2 July 2020 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes Grete Waitz NOR2:28:09 Marianne Dickerson USA2:31:09 Raisa Smekhnova URS2:31:13 NR Soviet 4 Rosa Mota POR2:31:50 5 Jacqueline Gareau CAN2:32:35 6 Laura Fogli ITA2:33:31 7 Regina Joyce IRL2:33:52 8 Tuija Toivonen FIN2:34:14 NR Finnish 9 Joyce Smith GBR2:34:27 10 Lyutsia Belyayeva URS2:34:44 11 Rita Marchisio ITA2:35:08 12 Debbie Eide USA2:36:17 13 Carey May IRL2:36:28 14 Glenys Quick NZL2:37:14 15 Monika Lövenich FRG2:39:19 16 Marja Vartiainen FIN2:39:22 17 Carla Beurskens NED2:39:25 18 Karolina Szabó HUN2:40:23 19 Christa Vahlensieck FRG2:40:43 20 Magda Ilands BEL2:40:52 21 Cindy Hamilton CAN2:41:27 22 Kathryn Binns GBR2:42:12 23 Zoya Ivanova URS2:43:27 24 Ngaire Drake NZL2:43:51 25 Jill Colwell AUS2:45:07 26 Jackie Turney AUS2:45:43 27 Sinikka Keskitalo FIN2:46:10 28 Dorothy Goertzen CAN2:46:38 29 Kersti Jacobsen DEN2:46:48 30 Ilona Zsilak HUN2:46:48 31 Mieko Tajima JPN2:47:10 32 Tuulikki Raisanen SWE2:47:29 33 Jarmila Urbanova TCH2:48:28 34 Mary O'Connor athlete NZL2:48:44 35 Yuko Gordon HKG2:48:51 36 Zehava Shmueli ISR2:49:07 37 Mette Holm-Hansen DEN2:49:43 37 Lone Dybdahl DEN2:49:43 39 Megan Sloane AUS2:51:11 40 Elizabeth Oberli-Schuh VEN2:51:30 41 Evy Palm SWE2:51:49 42 Heidi Jacobsen NOR2:52:51 43 Midde Hamrin SWE2:52:53 44 Deirdre Foreman-Nagle IRL2:53:07 45 Iciar Martínez ESP2:53:24 46 Rita Borralho POR2:53:41 47 Oddrun Hovsengen NOR2:54:04 48 Maria-Luisa Ronquillo MEX2:56:33 49 Rumiko Kaneko JPN2:58:53 50 Son Yong-Hi PRK2:59:10 51 Kim Myong-Suk PRK3:12:41 52– Julie Brown athlete USADNF Yueh-Mei Kao TPE Wu Jinmei CHN Kandasamy Jayamani SIN Chantal Langlacé FRA Yupin Lohachart THA Alba Milana ITA Charlotte Teske FRG 60– Marie-Christine Deurbroeck BELDNS Glynis Penny GBR Chu Winnie Ng Lai HKG Amy Cesaretti SMR See also 1982 European Athletics Championships – Women's marathon Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's marathon 1986 European Athletics Championships – Women's marathon Notes References M Category:Marathons at the World Athletics Championships Category:1983 marathons Category:Women's marathons Category:Marathons in Finland Category:Women's sport in Helsinki nl:IAAF wereldkampioenschap marathon 1983