Sean WallaceJones in Gothenburg
27 October 2000 – Gothenburg, Sweden – Irina Privalova stunned the world in September when she won the Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles after a career as a sprinter. Now the 31-year-old Russian (32 in just under a month’s time) is targeting the world record in the event, set here in Gothenburg by Kim Batten of the USA, during the IAAF World Championships back in 1995.
Back in 1995, Privalova was also busy setting records, indoors, in the 50 metres (5.96) and 60 metres, where she matched the world record of 6.92 she had herself set in 1993.
But after a series of injuries suffered in the sprints, Privalova was convinced by her coach, Vladimir Pareschuk to give it a try over the sticks: "at first it was just interesting training, then we saw that it went well so I continued."
In fact, it went much better than well. Privalova started winning right from the start and attracted the observers’ attention with her 54.06 winning time in the Herculis meeting in Monte Carlo in August. The rest is history, with this young mother and student of journalism going on to take Olympic gold in a world-leading time of 53.02.
Elated with that result, but also very aware that her technique still has a huge margin for improvement, Privalova is now devoting her full attention to the hurdles one lapper. "I am really going to concentrate on the hurdles for at least the next year," she says. "In a way it was easy for me in Sydney because I went into the event without any pressure; I always had the excuse, if something went wrong, that I am a sprinter. So nobody was really expecting too much from me."
That, of course, will be a different story in the coming season, when Irina will be going out on the track as the reigning Olympic champion and the woman they will all have to beat in the IAAF Golden league and in Edmonton.
Privalova is looking forward to the challenge with confidence: "Next year I think it will be a good summer," she says. "There will be good competition.
"You know, a year ago, I was not thinking about the Olympic Games. I thought it was a long way away and that I would probably concentrate on the 200 metres and the 400 flat. It was only in April that my coach and I saw that the hurdles was not so bad and in may, we decide to go for it."
So good that Privalova is even prepared to forgo her beloved 60 metres: "the 60 is really my favourite event, it always has been, but this winter I will not run indoors at all. There is just too much chance of injury."
She has also found the 400 and the 400 hurdles has kept her relatively injury-free: "Of course, we always have something, hopefully small, but the training for the 400 is a lot easier for me than for the sprints. For a start, there is little weight training, whereas for the sprints there is a lot. The training for long distance is a lot easier."
And Privalova is a stickler for training.
"I haven’t really had a break at all after the Olympics, I have been training the whole time, though only light training."
And what is light training?
"I play football and run cross country!" Football..? "Sure, I play in Moscow University. Now I only play for fun with the other people doing athletics with me, but before I was playing in inter-departmental matches."
So can we soon expect a showdown with that other well-known footballer on the athletics circuit, Mozambique’s Olympic 800 metre gold medallist, Maria Mutola.
"Oh," laughs Irina. "I really like Maria, she is really nice, why not."
But, in fact, the two are probably more likely to meet on the track, because once Privalova has achieved her ambition of winning the IAAF Golden League Jackpot and "The World’s" in Edmonton in the 400m hurdles, and setting that new world record, her coach thinks that she should probably turn her attention to the Mutola’s preferred terrain: the 800 metres.
"I run the 800 metres and the 1000 metres when I am training," recounts Irina, "and I believe that I can be very fast. The speed that I have in the 400 metres obviously helps, but I have been able to run around 2 minutes in practice, with no real coaching for the distance and I and my coach think that I can go a lot faster with the right training."
How fast…? Well, there is another world record there and they are made to be broken. "I plan to compete until the next Olympics," says Privalova, "so maybe that will be the time for another event!"
