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Moskva, , International meeting, Leninstadium, Hr. 1. 1: Nadezhda Olizarenko URS (1:54.9, World Record) 2. 1: Fita Lovin ROM National Record 3. 1:57.0 Olga Vakhrusheva URS PB 4. 1:57.0 Tatyana Kazankina URS 5. 1:57.6 Lyudmila Veselkova URS 6. 1:57.9 Nina Ruchayeva URS PB 7. 1:59.9 Valentina Gerasimova URS 8. 2:00.7 Lyudmila Shesterova URS (1:58.7 PB in heats) Having won the heats the previous day in a world leading time of 1:56.7, Nadezhda Olizarenko took the control of the final with a relatively slow pace. Reaching the 600m mark in 1:27.2, she was 2.4 off the split time set by Tatyana Kazankina when she ran the world record, 1: during the 1976 olympic final in Montreal. Olizarenko increased the pace covering the last 200m in 27.7, while Kazankina finished a distant fourth in 1:57.0. Another former world record holder, Valentina Gerasimova (1:56.0 in Kiev 1976) came 7th. The winner’s official time was 1:54.9, submitted as such by Soviet officials for IAAF ratification. However, this was not a hand time. It was a round-up time from the 1: automatic time, while three hand held watches registered 1:54.5, 1:54.6 and 1:54.7. The only other auto time known for this race was for Fita Lovin’s Romanian Record of 1:. Olizarenko was an outstanding combination of endurance and speed. She used to run up to 550 km a month during winter, with peaks at about 180 km per week. With her distance runner training and her VO2 max peak measured at 70-75 ml/kg/min, she was one of the best in the world at 1500m (Olympic bronze in 1980 and personal best of 3:56.8). Her top speed was which indicates sprint times such as sub 23 at 200m and 49.5 at 400m. She set her PB in competition during her sport form period in 1980: a win on 12 July but she surely was slowed down by the pouring rain. Also indicative of her level of performance was a key workout a few weeks before the Games: 2x400m with 30min rest in 50.8 and 49.7! So, it was no surprise for her that she could run much faster than 1: at 800m. She did so to win the Olympic title with a first lap covered in , nd a final time of 1:. Надежда Фёдоровна Олизаренко (урожд. Мушта) was born on 28 november 1953, and after a European gold medal in 1986, left sport in 1992 and became a coach. She died on 18 february 2017 at age 63.
