August 1983: Record Czechoslovak medal count at Helsinki World Athletics Championships
The 1983 World Championships in Athletics, held in Finland’s Helsinki, were the first edition of the competition – and proved the most successful ever for Czechoslovakia.
Czechoslovakia took four gold medals in Helsinki, as well as three silvers and two bronzes, coming fourth in the overall medals tally.
Jarmila Kratochvílová was the most successful member of the national team, coming first in the 400 meters in a world record time of 47.99 seconds, and beating into second place compatriot Taťána Kocembová.
Kratochvílová took home another gold in the 800 metres, and also helped the relay team to silver in the 4x400 meters. Their time of 3:20.23 is still the national record.
Further gold medals were earned by Helena Fibingerová in the shot put and Imrich Bugár in the discus. Jozef Pribilinec won silver in the 20 kilometer walk. The country’s two bronze medals went to Remigius Machura in the shot put and Gejza Valent in the discus.
