Golden double for blind sprinter

Press, 12 January 1981, Page 19

Golden double for blind sprinter

The amazing blind sprinter, Fritz Assmy, of West Germany, completed a gold medal double with a brilliant win in the M 65 200 m final in the world record time of 26.325.

Guided by his son-in-law, Klaus Hinrichsen, Assmy was well placed on the bend and simply ran away from his rivals in the dash to the finish. Yngve Brange, of Sweden, was the runner-up in 28.655. The world record of 27.6 s held jointly by Brange and John Satti, of the United States, was set in 1978. Assmy received a standing ovation from the crowd. His win'was by far the most popular of the Games so far.

Assmy was just 23 when he lost the sight in both eyes when he crashed in a Henkschel 123 fighter plane in 1938. He has been running with Hinrichsen as his guide for the last 10 years and has not been beaten in veteran competition since 1977. Assmy won the gold medal in the M 65 100 m final on Friday.

Another sprint world record to fall was in the M7O 200 m. Frederick Reid, of the. Netherlands, bettered his own world record by .48s with his winning time of 28.145. Three new world records were set in the women’s track walks. The most outstanding of these was the 28min 39.8 s win of Britta Tibbling, of Sweden, in the

W6O 5000 m. No record is listed for the over 60s, but her time easily bettered the world record of 35min 8s for the 59 years grade. M. Colhup, of Australia, won the W55 5000 m walk in the world record time of 30min 48.215. This bettered the world record of 36.155, set by Beatrice Blonsley, of the United States, in 1977. The third walking world record was set by M. Ohlsson, of Sweden, in winning the W5O 5000 m in 2Smin 46.065. S. Brasher, of Australia, who was second in 29min 9.025, and O. Meyer, of West Germany, who was third in 29min 21.795, were also inside the old world record of 31min 28s, held by Lika Askew, of the United States.