Lyudmila Kondratyeva
Encyclopedia
Lyudmila Andreyevna Kondratyeva (born April 11, 1958 in Shakhty
Shakhty
Shakhty is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the southeastern spur of Donetsk mountain ridge, northeast of Rostov-on-Don. Its population was 240,152 per the preliminary results of the 2010 Census; up from 222,592 recorded in the 2002 Census....

) is a Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 athlete, who competed for the USSR and is the 1980 Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 100 m champion.

Kondratyeva began athletics at age 11 at the Children and Youth Sport School in Shakhty, her first trainer being Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlenko. Two years later she passed exams into Rostov on Don Children and Youth Sport School, created in 1971, where she was coached by Nina Vasilyevna Lazarchenko. In 1973 she became a member of the USSR National Youth Team, and in 1974 - of the USSR National Team. At the 1975 European Youth Championships Kondratyeva finished 4th in the 200m and in the 4 x 100 m relay. Four years later she became the winner of the 200 m at the 1978 European Championships, where she also won a gold in the 4 x 100 m relay
Relay race
During a relay race, members of a team take turns running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or ice skating parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games...

 event.

Now one of the medal favourites for the 1980 Summer Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...

, which were held in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, she also ran a non-recognised World Record
World record
A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...

 just before the Olympics. The final was a close race, with the first 5 finishing within 1 tenth of a second. A photo finish showed that Kondratyeva had beaten Marlies Göhr
Marlies Göhr
Marlies Göhr is a former East German athlete, the winner of the 100 m at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. She ranked in the top 10 of the 100 m world rankings for twelve straight years, ranking first in six of those years...

 of East Germany by just 0.01 seconds. Unfortunately, Kondratyeva pulled her hamstring
Hamstring
In human anatomy, the hamstring refers to any one of the three posterior thigh muscles, or to the tendons that make up the borders of the space behind the knee. In modern anatomical contexts, however, they usually refer to the posterior thigh muscles, or the tendons of the semitendinosus, the...

 at the finish, thereby not allowing her to run the 200 m or the 4 x 100 m relay.

Unable to compete at the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...

 due to the boycott led by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, Kondratyeva could not defend her Olympic title. She retired after that season and married Yuriy Sedykh
Yuriy Sedykh
Yuriy Georgiyevich Sedykh is a retired Soviet/Ukrainian athlete who represented the USSR, specialising in the hammer throw....

, two time Olympic champion in the hammer throw
Hammer throw
The modern or Olympic hammer throw is an athletic throwing event where the object is to throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle. The name "hammer throw" is derived from older competitions where an actual sledge hammer was thrown...

, although they would later divorce. She came out of retirement to compete at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. She made the semi-finals of the 100m and won a bronze medal as part of the Soviet women's 4x100m relay.
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