Jarmila Kratochvílová’s 800m mark of 1:53.28 was set 40 years ago, but rather than being celebrated it is mired in controversy

On July 26 in 1983, Jarmila Kratochvílová arrived at the Olympiapark Meeting in Munich’s Olympic Stadium as a 400m specialist with intentions of testing her speed over 200m. After a touch of cramp, though, she decided to switch to running the 800m. Her subsequent time of 1:53.28 sent shockwaves through the sport and now, 40 years later, it remains the oldest outdoor world record in the book.

The performance persuaded the Czech athlete to attempt an audacious 400m and 800m double at the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki the following month. Such was her form, she pulled it off, with 800m victory in 1:54.68 followed by a 400m world record of 47.99, although the latter was beaten two years later by her great rival, Marita Koch of East Germany, who ran a time of 47.60 in Australia which still stands as the fastest mark in history.

Both records are considered virtually untouchable. Some have described the marks as “toxic” with accusations of doping. Whereas the state-organised programme of East Germany is well documented, the situation is not as clear in the former Czechoslovakia, however, although there is evidence that a “specialized care” system existed for athletes, with doping likely.

Kratochvílová, who is now 72, has always denied knowingly taking drugs. Instead, herself and her coach, Miroslav Kvac, insisted the performances were down lots of physical work during her upbringing on a farm, huge amounts of weight training and large amounts of vitamin B12.

When there have been suggestions in the past to scrap these old world records, Kratochvílová has reacted angrily. “Complete nonsense,” she said in 2017. “I have never taken banned substances.”

Reacting to criticism of her muscled physique, she added: “When you work as hard as I did, you have to sacrifice some of your looks. The women of the West don’t work as hard as I did.”

According to reports at the time, Kratochvílová was so motivated that she trained at 4am and refused to have an afternoon rest. There are stories of her sprinting in spikes on a frozen pond when her local cinder track was covered in snow in the winter and, when once recovering from Achilles surgery, Kratochvílová ran repetitions through a foot of water in a pool wearing a weighted vest and put a gas mask on to restrict her breathing.

During her career she broke 24 Czech records from 100m to 800m. In her early years she focused on shorter sprints but won 400m silver at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and 1982 European Championships in Athens behind Koch.

The 800m world record that she broke in 1983 was held by Nadezhda Olizarenko, who ran 1:53.43 to win gold for the host nation at the 1980 Olympics. While our eyes are drawn to Kratochvílová’s enduring performance, incidentally, it’s worth remembering that the Czech athlete only improved the Soviet runner’s record by 15 hundredths of a second and yet Olizarenko is a largely forgotten figure due to her mark only lasting three years.

In the run-up to the World Championships in Helsinki in 1983, it was known that Koch was focusing on shorter sprints and relays. This also influenced Kratochvílová’s plan to tackle the 400m and 800m double and in the Finnish capital the 32-year-old Czech negotiated a tough schedule to claim two golds.

Trickiest of all was Tuesday August 9 when she won her 400m semi-final in 51.08 and the 800m final in 1:54.68 just 35 minutes later, although AW’s coverage at the time suggests there was as little as 24 minutes between her leaving the track after the 400m and returning for the 800m. Then, the following day, she passed 200m in 23.2 before clocking 47.99 in the 400m final to beat Koch’s world record of 48.16.

The next year Kratochvílová missed the Olympics due to the Eastern Bloc boycott of the LA Games. She battled on for another three years but retired after finishing fifth in the world 800m final in 1987.

“It’s a definitely a record a lot of people have suspected,” said British record-holder Keely Hodgkinson when asked about Kratochvílová recently. “It’s a very remarkable record. Whether it will be broken in my lifetime, I don’t know. I’m still two-and-a-half seconds away from that.

“In our sport it’s medals that can’t be taken away so they’re the main priority. If anyone was to get close to it such as myself or anyone else, it would be quite an amazing feat.”

If there is hope it will one day fall, though, then consider this. Kratochvílová also held the world indoor 400m record with 49.59 for 41 years but Femke Bol of the Netherlands improved it to 49.26 earlier this year.

World all-time women’s 800m
1:53.28  Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) Munich, July 1983
1:53.43  Nadezhda Olizarenko (URS) Moscow, July 1980
1:54.01  Pamela Jelimo (KEN) Zurich, August 2008
1:54.25  Caster Semenya (RSA) Paris, June 2018
1:54.44  Ana Quirot (CUB) Barcelona, September 1989
1:54.81  Olga Mineyeva (URS) Moscow, July 1980
1:54.94  Tatyana Kazankina (URS) Montreal, July 1976
1:55.04  Athing Mu (USA) Eugene, August 2021
1:55.05  Doina Melinte (ROU) Bucharest, August 1982
1:55.19  Maria Mutola (MOZ) Zurich, August 1994
1:55.19  Jolanda Ceplak (SLO) Heusden, July 2002