Lyudmila Kondratyeva

Lyudmila Kondratyeva took up athletics in 1972 and was one of the world’s best female sprinters in the late 1970s. After finishing fourth in both the 200 and 4×100 relay at the 1975 European Junior Championships, she débuted on the senior level at the 1978 European Championships, where she won golds in the 200 and 4×100 relay. She won multiple medals in the 1979-80 seasons at various minor internationals. Two months before the 1980 Olympics, Kondratyeva ran her personal best of 10.87, which was 0.01 seconds better than Marlies Göhr’s world record of 10.88, but was never ratified by the IAAF due to timing issues. At the Olympics, she edged out Göhr by 0.01 seconds to win the 100 gold medal, but pulled her hamstring at the finish and was unable to compete in the 200 and 4×100 relay. After the Olympics, Kondratyeva won a 4×100 bronze at the 1981 World Cup. Due to the 1984 Soviet Olympic boycott, Kondratyeva competed at the 1984 Friendship Games, winning silver medals in the 100 and 4×100 relay.

Kondratyeva retired from sports after the 1984 season, but made a brief comeback to compete at the 1988 Olympics, where she won a bronze medal with the Soviet 4×100 team and was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 100 metres. She was Soviet 100 champion in 1979 and 200 champion in 1979-80 and 1988. After finishing her sports career, Kondratyeva worked as an athletics coach. Kondratyeva was briefly married to two-time Olympic champion Yuriy Siedykh, but the marriage ended in divorce. Their daughter Oksana Kondratyeva followed in her father’s footsteps and became a top level hammer thrower, winning silver at the 2013 Universiade.

Personal Best: 100 – 10.87 (1980).