Athletics in the UK: The Rise and Fall of the BAF

120 What about the athletes? damaging effects on the reputation of the sport. Fortunately, the “corridors of power” rarely appeared to affect the endeavours of the athletes, probably because most of them and their coaches felt that they prospered in spite of the official systems. The BAF was supposed to change everything for the better, so the administrators persevered. The first ever world championships in athletics were held in Helsinki in 1983 and witnessed the drama of Britain’s Fatima Whitbread leading the final of the javelin competition until local heroine Tiina Lillak snatched the gold with her very last throw. Daley Thompson again beat his great rival, the German Jurgen Hingsen, in the decathlon and Steve Cram took the 1500m. With another Olympic Games, that in Los Angeles in 1984, on the horizon, excitement with British athletics had reached fever pitch with the arrival in Britain of the running phenomenon, South African Zola Budd. The bare footed runner had received a British passport in record time and thus was eligible to compete for Great Britain in the Olympics, South Africa remaining excluded from international sport because of its apartheid policies. The Olympic clash between Budd and the USA’s record breaker Mary Decker ended with Decker’s fall during the race, having apparently been tripped by Budd, and Budd herself finished seventh. Britain’s Wendy Sly finished second but her silver medal success was overshadowed by the Budd/Decker controversy. The 1984 Olympics saw Daley Thompson retain his decathlon crown and Sebastian Coe brilliantly retained his 1500m title, the only athlete to do so, and once again took silver in the 800m. Steve Cram took the silver medal in the 1500m behind Coe and Tessa Sanderson won the javelin. In addition, David Ottley won silver in the men’s javelin, Fatima Whitbread bronze in the women’s javelin, Shirley Strong took a silver in the women’s 100m hurdles and Kathy Cook bronze in the women’s 400m. All in all, it was a highly successful Games for Great Britain’s athletes. As 1984 turned into 1985 Steve Cram emerged as the new king of the middle distance, setting three world records in as many weeks over 1500m, the mile and 2000m. The European Junior championships of the same year saw British athletes harvest 18 medals including 10 gold. The