or as great Australian commentator Bruce MacAveney once quipped "the all-time great Koch"

...She and her fellow 'female' sister, Kratochvilovaw, really knew how to put their gender to shame on the track, by proving, you didn't need to be a bloke, to cheat...

@@Logans3Run Marita had a baby you idiot..You doping conspiracists ruin the comments section.Just go away

Yeah, without Bill Koch the Americans would have had no Nordic skiing team at all, for example.

@@imanjordan3050 doping conspiracists, there no conspiracy that the East Germans were doped to their eyeballs. It’s a known fact.

Marita...queen of the dopers!

@@dontlookback3549 The real Queen of doping is Flo Jo who improved from 11 seconds to 10.49 within a couple of weeks, and after that she was no way close to that time...

It is well documented that the East German athletes were given performance enhancement drugs for well over 20 years. There are official government papers that outline the doping system. Interestingly, people tend to throw Florence Griffith in the debate to deflect the EG guilt, yet no such documents or evidence have ever been presented to convict Florence.

@@FourSeasons04 The same applies to Marita Koch: She never tested positive for any doping drugs. Yes, there are some EG athletes who took drugs so were US and Western athletes, including Flo Jo and Ben Johnson. I suggest that you read Merlene Ottey's (Jamaican Sprinting Queen) and Gwen Torrence's (the living legend and Flo Jo's US Teammate) account of Flo Jo's performance. They make a perfect sense. Torrence said "those records of Flo Jo do not exist for me. She brought so much shame to the sport..' No wonder Flo Jo died young - her heart stopped because of the pumping steroids... The ultimate judgement of the God!

The majority of EG athletes did not "officially" test positive for PED. However, they are all listed, including Marita, in the government documents outlining the state-sponsored system and how drugs where administered to their athletes. There's a documentary called the Stasi Papers (?) that goes into great detail. Bottom line, the EG were successful dopers. Regarding Florence, not one athlete has presented evidence proving her guilt. Don't give me heresay, just provide proof.

It surely was....an amazing championships. Everybody was there.

If you like steroids

Even the black girls never ran the 400 that fast. The Canadian, the Americans.

It really was! The “who’s who” of the track world! Shame the communist countries boycotted ‘84 LA. Screwed over Koch, Goer, Kratochvilova, Kocembova, and Pinigina-Bryzgina at their peak

Exactly. Coleman called Sabina Busch as lead-off and Sabina (second) was hard to miss anywhere!

Oral Turinabol saved the day.

It’s amazing how steroids can make you look so graceful

Samuel Creus First leg runner is Kerstin Walther.

@@jensolepoulsen4377 it`s right.

The greatest ever 😍

@@bluecheese4877 I can't agree with YOU MORE!

Yes, big fan of Marita Koch. Just such an elegant powerful runner

@@MH77391 Yes, Sir!

Doped to the gills

Hopefully not anymore. It was Kerstin Walther on the 1st leg.

@@jensolepoulsen4377 no, she was Gesine Walther....Kerstin Walter was in preliminary round

@@ivancervi1825 No Gesine Walther in 1983. : 1.East Germany (Kerstin Walther, Sabine Busch, Marita Koch, Dagmar Rübsam) 3:19.73

Steroids are incredible too.

If her 47.7 from a running start is incredible, what does that make Koch's 47.6 from a standing start :D

@@Dee-zy5gh: yet with steroid use by so many then and possibly most since they haven't got faster. If you're the best on steroids you've beaten the next best on steroids

Carolina great point

He is a very powerful dude and runner.

Sandy Combs so were her steroids. I met her once and her facial hair was scary.

@@stevecross3784: but you comment as if others weren't. On a level playing field she was still better than they were

@@stevecross3784 My guess is she is not only on steroids but she also has a Y chromosome like Semenya.

Really? You aint seen nuting yet. Greetings 12 years back to you from the the future!

European Championships just did.

Whenever I used to watch her competing as a child my family always joked how noone could compete with the man/woman.

She/he runs like a mediocre man. Also he/she is way to muscular for a 800 or 400m runner, a bit like Casta Semenya. Only a man can win a women competition with this physique.

Absolutely

Koch didn't run individual 400 m too in Helsinki, but only 100 and 200 m. Yes I believe she wanted to escape from a direct challenge with Jarmila.

Yes, she obviously avoided the challenge with Kratochvilova as she clearly would have been beaten both in the individual 400m and in the relay. In 1983 Kratochvilova was definitely unbeatable and Marita knew it. But I'm also convinced that Kratochvilova's performances in 1983 led Marita to work even harder in 1984 and 1985 to reach 47.60. It is such a shame that the Eastern block Countries boycott LA Olympics as I think that Valerie Brisco wouldn't even have gotten the bronze in 48.83 (let's not forget that Kocembova was storming as well in 1983 and 1984).

@@tj1417 Still a strange decision. She may have been slightly slower in the end, but it was a risk to allow Kratochvilova the opportunity to power herself into closing the gap whereas Koch would’ve had the opportunity to counter and go faster than without a reference as to how fast she’d need to run to ensure the overall win.

No, she didnt, it was a beautiful tactic.

I think it's impressive she managed to maintain her lead against a man.

Piningina had an impressive career. Outstanding athlete

He said it seems to me Marita Koch settled this world championship on the third leg.

@@MirjanaLfan thank you but in fact it is just after, at 3:13 , he said something about Jk i don't understand and i would

@@Jess-vb6mz “Kratochvilova striking for home but surely she can’t do it” striking for home means your final big effort.

@@MirjanaLfan much thanks

100x10m would be really interesting!

Stupid comment!

Jim’s split was faster, besides he had the world record at the time

Eben eine Legende 👏🌹🙏

So what? Who ask for her?

But Marita got silver and Ashford pulled out.

their home Olympics - lots of inducements and possibly more

More powerful steroids would have helped them run 3 m 15:)

@@Dee-zy5gh as in the seoul olympics

@@andrewpaul7363 Precisely

Kerstin Walter not Gesine Walther

Kerstin Walter not Gesine Walther.

@@manuelat742 GESINE WALTER MAYBE YOU MIX UP WITH KIRSTEN SIEMON

@@fergusalex no i didn`t, look at the results on wikipedia, it`s Kerstin Walther, Kirsten Siemon/Emmelmann is a little girl.

@@fergusalex look in here face in the end of race, it`s clear not Kirsten Siemon.

Thought Coleman would have been able to tell the difference between Gesine and Sabina!

steady on with the allegations! they boycotted L.A. in retaliation to the U.S. boycott of Moscow 4 years earlier.

Gay

But this is not the subject of this video is it?

+Dazzaman CHEAT!!!

ranhill KOCH!!

Koch probably still would have been great without the low levels of oral turinabol that were documented only...They were piss weak low dosages...She also progressively lowered her 400m time season to season over a long career...Jenkins would have run so much faster on peds but was always injured..Another point is that a female gets one hell of a bigger bang for their buck on steroids....No East German men around was there ..

idontsignin HAHAHAHA

Well they're allowed to run in the women's 800 these days.

idontsignin: haha, get used to it from 2020 onwards. It'll be legit!

and marion jones was clean hahahahahahaha….get real dear, the usa just don't get caught

Yes bcoz she also took drug

Ashford wad dirty too

5 years later in Seoul they got "serious"...meaning they got with the "program" in how GDR & Soviets were doing.

This was before USA starting doping, circa 1983-84 in time for the LA Olympics and ever since.

This was the period when they were busy juicing up Valerie Brisco Hooks, Chandra Cheesebrough and a few others.

And USA too.

So why weren't the Eastern European Men dominant against the Americans?

A Amantle did.

I very much doubt it