These days she is a shadow of her former muscular self. But back in 1983, at the inaugural World Championships, she seemed the embodiment of the Eastern Bloc's athletics dominance.

She utterly dominated her 800m final, accelerating with 300m to go and going clear on the top bend to win in one min 54.68secs from Lyubov Gurina and Yekaterina Podkopayeva - a time which, 18 years later, remains the fastest recorded in a World Championships final. At that time it was the third fastest 800m by a woman in history.

To greater astonishment, a day later, seemingly enlivened rather than exhausted by her exploits, Kratochvilova took the 400m title in an incredible 47.99secs.