Games and Rings
  • A Blog for Olympic Sports Fans

The IAAF World Champs - A Retrospective, Part 1 - the 80's

8/16/2015

 
Started in 1983, the IAAF's World Championships are the largest event for global track and field outside of the Olympic Games. Not only serving as the highlight of competition for athletics in between the Games, they often are looked upon as a specific Games preview. This especially holds true for the  Championships editions held the year right before an Olympics.

With that in mind, I take a look back at previous Championships to glimpse at how well Worlds medalists are able to finish on the podium at the following Olympics. Although Championships did start on a biennial schedule in 1993, with the first edition held after a Games, I'll focus more attention on those editions which occur right before.

Let's start in the 80's:

I - Helsinki, 1983

Stats
  • 1,355 athletes from 153 nations
  • 41 events

Medal Table
  1. United States (24)
  2. Soviet Union (23)
  3. East Germany (22)

Highlights
  • Marita Koch (GDR) wins three gold - 200m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, and one silver - 100m
  • Carl Lewis (USA) wins three golds - 100m, 4x100m relay, long jump
  • Sergey Bubka (UKR) wins his first world championship in the pole vault
  • World Records from Jarmila Kratochvolva (TCH) in the 400m (and also won the 800m), and the U.S. in the men's 4x100m relay.
  • Mary Decker (USA) wins the 1,500m and the 3,000m

How the Olympic medal podiums the following year (1984 Los Angeles) compare
*Note, the Soviet Bloc boycott of the 1984 Games obviously prevented many from competing
  • Carl Lewis (USA) repeated with gold in the 100m
  • Joaquim Cruz (BRA) went from bronze to gold in the 800m
  • Steve Cram (GBR) won silver in 1500m after gold in 1983
  • Alberto Cova (ITA) repeated with gold in the 10,000m
  • Greg Foster (USA) and Arto Bryggare (FIN) went from 1-2 to 2-3 in the 110m hurdles
  • Edwin Moses (USA) and Harald Schmid (FRG) went from 1-2 after 1-3 in the 400m hurdles
  • USA repeated with gold in the men's 4x100m relay
  • GBR improved to silver after bronze in the men's 4x400m relay
  • Ernesto Canto (MEX) won the 20km walk
  • Carl Lewis (USA) repeated with gold in the long jump
  • Zhu Jianhua (CHN) duplicated the bronze in the high jump
  • Daley Thompson (GBR), Jurgen Hingsen (FRG), and Siegfried Wentz (FRG) went 1-2-3 in the decathlon
  • Merlene Ottey (JAM) went from silver to bronze in the 200m
  • Kathy Smallwood (GBR) went from 200m bronze to 400m bronze
  • Grete Waitz (NOR) won silver after gold in the marathon
  • GBR went from silver to bronze in the women's 4x400m relay
  • Anisoara Cusmir (ROM) won gold after silver in the long jump
  • Ulrike Meyfarth (FRG) won gold after silver in the high jump
  • Tiina Lillak (FIN) and Fatima Whitbread (GBR) went 2-3 in javelin after having been 1-2
  • USA (40), GBR (16), and FRG (11) were the top nations


​II - Rome, 1987


Stats
  • 1,451 athletes from 159 nations
  • 43 events (women's 10,000m and 10km walk added)

Medal Table
  1. East Germany (31)
  2. Soviet Union (25)
  3. United States (20)

Highlights
  • Carl Lewis (USA) duplicated his three golds from 1983, in the 100m, long jump, and 4x100m relay
  • Stefka Kostadinova (BUL) set a world record of 2.09m in the high jump
  • Silke Gladisch (GDR) won two golds (100m, 200m), as did Tetyana Samolenko (URS) (1500m, 3000m) 
  • In all, 31 championship record were set across all events

How the Olympic medal podiums the following year (1988 Seoul) compare
  • Carl Lewis (USA) and Linford Christie (GBR) went from 1-3 to 1-2 in the 100m
  • Calvin Smith (USA) went from 200m gold to 100m bronze
  • Butch Reynolds (USA) went from bronze to silver in the 400m
  • Douglas Wakiihuri (KEN), Ahmed Hussein Salah (DJI), and Gelindo Bordin (ITA) went from 1-2-3 to 2-3-1 in the marathon
  • Colin Jackson (GBR) went from bronze to silver in the 110m hurdles
  • Edwin Moses (USA) went from gold to bronze in the 400m hurdles
  • Maurizio Damilano (ITA) and Jozef Pribilinec (TCH) went from 1-2 to 3-1 in the 20km walk
  • Hartwig Gauder (GDR), Ronald Weigel (GDR) and Vyacheslav Ivanenko (URS) went from 1-2-3 to 3-2-1 in the 50km walk
  • URS went from silver to gold in the men's 4x100m relay
  • USA repeated with gold in the men's 4x400m relay
  • Carl Lewis (USA) and Larry Myricks (USA) went 1-3 again in the long jump
  • Kristo Markov (BUL) won the triple jump
  • Patrik Sjoberg (SWE) and Gennady Avdeyenko (URS) went from 1-2 to 1-3 in the high jump
  • Sergey Bubka (URS) and Rodion Gataullin (URS) went from 1-3 to 1-2 in the pole vault
  • Werner Gunthor (SUI) went from gold to bronze in the shot put
  • Jurgen Schult (GDR) won gold in the discus throw again
  • Sergey Litvinov (URS) and Yuri Tamm (URS) went from 1-2 to 1-3 in the hammer throw
  • Seppo Raty (FIN) and Jan Zelezny (TCH) went from 1-3 to 2-3 in the javelin
  • Torsten Voss (GDR) went from gold to silver in the decathlon
  • Heike Dreschler (GDR) went from silver to bronze in the 100m
  • Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) went from silver to gold in the 200m
  • Olga Bryzgina (URS) and Petra Muller (GDR) repeated as 1-2 in the 400m
  • Sigrun Wodars (GDR) and Christine Wachtel (GDR) repeated as 1-2 in the 800m
  • Tetyana Samolenko (URS) went from gold to bronze in the 1500m, but repeated gold in the 3000m
  • Yelena Zhupiyeva (URS) went from silver to bronze in the 10,000m
  • Rosa Mota (POR) repeated with gold in the marathon
  • Gloria Siebert (GDR) repeated with silver in the 100m hurdles
  • Debbie Flintoff (AUS) went from silver to gold in the 400m hurdles
  • USA, GDR, URS repeated as 1-2-3 in the women's 4x100m relay
  • GDR, URS, USA went from 1-2-3 to 3-1-2 in the women's 4x400m relay
  • Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) and Heike Dreschler (GDR) went from 1-3 to 1-2 in the long jump
  • Stefka Kostadinova (BUL) and Tamara Bykova (URS) went from 1-2 to 2-3 in the high jump
  • Natalya Lisovskaya (URS) and Kathrin Muller (GDR) repeated as 1-2 in the shot put
  • Martina Hellmann (GDR), Diana Gansky (GDR), and Tsvetanka Khristova (BUL) repeated as 1-2-3 in the discus throw
  • Fatima Whitbread (GBR) and Petra Felke (GDR) went from 1-2 to 2-1 in the javelin
  • Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) repeated with gold in the heptathlon 
  • GDR (27), USA (26), and URS (26) were the top nations

Comments are closed.

    About This Blog

    An athletes-focused Olympics fan blog celebrating all things Olympic sport athletes

    Picture
    Read about me.

    Navigate It

    Random highlights of Olympic sport athletes - news, social links, and more, seen through the cheeky lens of this one particular, passionate fan.

    ​Check out:
     A Little Roundup
    Sharing links to some Olympic sports headlines & news catching my eye, & focused on celebrating athlete stories

    Let's Get Social
    What are some of your favorite Olympic sport athletes up to on social media away from the competition?

    They are the Champions
    Congratulations to the world champions of Olympic sports!

    Athletes Worth Watching
    Who are some emerging Olympic sport athletes worth keeping an eye on for the future?

    ​Ramblings and Things
    ​
    I have my own comment and opinions sometimes!

    A Quick Review
    Quick thoughts on Olympic sports-related films, art, books, TV, etc. that I've come across .
    p.s. see my Bookshop!

    Picture
    Me at Rio 2016's Barra Olympic Park
    ​Above header: Kallimarmaro stadium in Athens, site of the first modern Olympics in 1896


    Follow Me

    Picture

    Picture

    Picture

    Picture

    Picture

    Picture

    Picture

    Favorite Sites

    The IOC
    The Olympic Museum
    Olympic World Library
    ​Intl Olympic Academy
    ​Team USA
    World Athletics
    ​Athletics Integrity Unit
    WADA
    Court of Arbitration
    Around the Rings
    Inside the Games
    GamesBids.com
    The Sports Examiner
    ​AP Olympics
    ​AP Winter Olympics
    NBC Olympic Talk
    NY Times ​Olympics
    USA TODAY Olympics
    Wiki Summer Olympics
    Wiki Winter Olympics
    ​Athlete365
    ​
    Global Athlete
    ​Olympic Historians
    World Olympians Assoc.
    ​Games Architecture​
    Art of the Olympians
    Olympic.org Results
    ​Olympedia
    ​Olympstats
    ​
    Olympian Database
    ​On This Day in Sports
    ​Coubertin Speaks
    ​Olympic City Project
    ​
    Keep the Flame Alive
    Off The Podium
    The Games Odyssey
    ​Totallympics
    ​Qualifying to the Games
    ​Lost Olympians
    ​
    Olympians 1964 to 2020
    All Sports Books Reviews
    Outsports
    ​
    Queerstory Files
    ​Paris 2024
    ​Milan Cortina 2026
    Los Angeles 2028


    Categories

    All
    A Little Roundup
    Alpine Skiing
    Amsterdam 1928
    Ancient Olympics
    Aquatics
    Archery
    Artistic Swimming
    Athens 1896
    Athens 2004
    Athlete Spotlight
    Athlete Worth Watching
    Atlanta 1996
    Badminton
    Baseball
    Basketball
    Basketball 3x3
    Beach Volleyball
    Beijing 2008
    Beijing 2022
    Berlin 1936
    Biathlon
    Bobsled
    Boxing
    Breaking
    Canoe/Kayak
    Cross Country Skiing
    Curling
    Cycling
    Cycling BMX
    Cycling Mountain Bike
    Cycling Road
    Cycling Track
    Demonstration Sports
    Diving
    Equestrian
    Fencing
    Field Hockey
    Figure Skating
    Freestyle Skiing
    Golf
    Gymnastics
    Handball
    Helsinki 1952
    Ice Hockey
    Innsbruck 1976
    IOC
    Judo
    Karate
    Let's Get Social
    London 1908
    London 1948
    London 2012
    Los Angeles 1932
    Los Angeles 1984
    Los Angeles 2028
    Luge
    Melbourne 1956
    Mexico City 1968
    Milano Cortina 2026
    Modern Pentathlon
    Montreal 1976
    Moscow 1980
    Munich 1972
    Non Olympic Sports
    Non-Olympic Sports
    Nordic Combined
    Olympics
    Olympic Sports Media
    On This Date
    Other
    Paralympics
    Paris 2024
    Pyeongchang 2018
    Rhythmic Gymnastics
    Rio 2016
    Rome 1960
    Rowing
    Rugby Sevens
    Sailing
    Salt Lake City 2002
    Sarajevo 1984
    Seoul 1988
    Shooting
    Short Track Speedskating
    Skateboarding
    Skeleton
    Ski Jumping
    Ski Mountaineering
    Snowboarding
    Soccer (football)
    Sochi 2014
    Softball
    Speed Skating
    Sport Climbing
    Squash
    Stockholm 1912
    Summer Olympics
    Surfing
    Swimming
    Sydney 2000
    Table Tennis
    Taekwondo
    Tennis
    They Are The Champions
    Tokyo 1964
    Tokyo 2020
    Track And Field
    Trampolining
    Triathlon
    Volleyball
    WADA
    Water Polo
    Weightlifting
    Winter Olympics
    Wrestling


    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014


    To opt-out of cookies, and to read this site's privacy policy, read the Policy page.

    The following link is listed for Mastodon site verification purposes only:
    Mastodon

    RSS Feed


Proudly powered by Weebly