Platform, Women

The 1978 World Champion was Irina Kalinina of the Soviet Union, but she elected to skip this event, which left it wide-open. Martina Jäschke of the GDR had been second to Kalinina at 1978 Worlds, and she moved up here to win the gold medal. The event was dominated by the Eastern Bloc, as Soviets Silva Emirzyan and Liana Tsot’adze won the silver and bronze medals, respectively, followed in fourth by Jäschke’s teammate, Ramona Wenzel, with fifth place going to the third Soviet, Yelena Matyushenko. Swimming World noted that “the women’s final was mired in mediocrity,” with 6s and 7s much more common than 8s and 9s.