Washington ends an Era
25 AugustSeville, Spain - History was made in more ways than one last night after a magnificent discus competition. For not only did Anthony Washington become the first American to win a global title since 1976 but a remarkable chapter in German athletic history came to an end. Two giants of the ring - Jürgen Schult and Lars Riedel - whose strength and skills had been honed at the forges of the former German Democratic Republic, had been forced to admit defeat after almost a decade of domination.
Schult's story is perhaps the most remarkable. Now a year short of his 40th birthday he set the current world record of 74.08 back in 1986 and went on to win World Championship gold in 1987 and Olympic gold the following year. For most athletes, such a triple would have been enough and when the Berlin Wall fell a few years later, he was expected to hand up his throwing shoes. After all, like the other GDR athletes, Schult had to make a massive adjustment. In the system, all he had to worry about was throwing the discus, while a legion of experts looked after his coaching, his nutrition, his mental well-being, his training camps and his competition schedules. He was given an apartment and a car and - as long as his results were good - he had a special status. Now, almost overnight, Schult would have to learn to fend for himself in the new united Germany. But Schult refused to quit, and although the new star was the 1.99m tall Lars Riedel, seven years younger and winner of four successive world titles between 1991 and 1997, Schult remained competitive. While gold eluded him he was still a dangerous opponent, winning the World Championship bronze two years ago. And this season, although Riedel was still leading the lists with 69.18 he seemed more vulnerable than usual and Schult believed he could pull off a surprise in Seville.
In hot, still conditions last night - the discus throwers prefer a wind in their faces - it was Schult rather than Riedel who seized the initiative. In the penultimate round it seemed as if the 39 year-old, with 68.18, was heading for gold. Of course, he feared that Riedel might snatch victory at the last. That was what Germany, and the world, expected. But it was Anthony Washington, desperate not to repeat his fourth place finish of the 1996 Olympics, who ended his dream. It was the American's very personal fear of failure that helped propel his discus high into the sky to land past the 69 metre barrier - at 69.08 - and write a new page in the history of this event.
