200 metres, Women

Katrin Krabbe (GER) had won the 1991 World Championships and the 1990 Europeans. A tall, attractive blonde, the former East German seemed about to capitalize on her fame with endorsements not previously available to her. However, early in 1992, she and some of her teammates went to train in South Africa. There were accusations that this was done to avoid drug testing and the Germans responded by sending a testing team down there. All of the women tested negative but then it was revealed that all of the urine samples had come from the same person. They were all suspended for four years by the German Track Federation but, after appeals to the IAAF, this was revoked. Nonetheless, in June, Krabbe withdrew from the Olympics because of the stress she had been through in the past few months. In July, she did test positive, this time for clenbuterol, and she never competed again.

With Krabbe out, the favorite’s role fell to Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey, who had had been bronze medalist in 1980 and again in 1984. She had won medals at all three World Championships, though never a gold, and was 1990 Commonwealth Champion. Her biggest challenge was expected to come from American Gwen Torrence. Torrence was considered a possibility to win the 100/200 but, a few days earlier, had finished fourth in the 100. She then claimed that “Two of the three medalists are not clean. I’m sick and tired of it.” The 100 medalists had been Gail Devers (USA), Juliet Cuthbert (JAM), and Irina Privalova (EUN), in that order. Torrence never said who the two were and, a few days later she retracted her statement, but it added to the controversy of the 200.

In the 200 final, Torrence, Privalova, Cuthbert, and Ottey were drawn in the middle of the track. The four were even as they came off the turn, but Torrence was the strongest on the run-in and won by over 2/10ths from Cuthbert.