Jarmila Kratochvílová

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Olympic medal record
Women's Athletics
Silver	1980 Moscow	400m

Jarmila Kratochvílová (born 26 January 1951) is a former late-developing Czech 400 m runner whose career was dogged by injury and illness. Always in the shadow of Marita Koch she hit peak form in 1983 aged 32. Entering a one-off 800 m in Munich reportedly as a training exercise, she broke the world record with 1:53.28. This convinced her to attempt an unlikely double in the inaugural World Championships 10 days later. Despite a seemingly impossible schedule, she won the 800 m easily and set a world record 47.99 to win the 400 m. Koch, having missed training through injury ran (and won) the 200 m. Though Koch beat her 400 m time in 1985, her 800 m record remains as one of the longest standing in Track and Field.

Her unfeminine appearance has led to her performances being somewhat underappreciated. Drug rumours persist, though in her case no evidence has ever come to light, not surprising given that random drug testing was introduced many years after she set her records in the early 1980s. Conversely the world record holder in a strength event might be expected to be stronger than average.

On August 16, 2006, Reuters reported the finding of secret documents which show doctors administered banned substances, such as androlone, norandrosterone and stanozolol, through the 1980s to Czechoslovakian athletes in a wide variety of sports including track and field athletics.