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Profile - Debbie Flintoff-King
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Debbie Flintoff-King started out in athletics as an ordinary long jumper and pentathlete. She arrived as an international class athlete in 1981/82 when she cut her personal best through the season and, in an upset, won the Commonwealth Games gold medal in Brisbane 1982. She maintained her high level of performance throughout the eighties and earned a well-deserved gold medal for the 400m Hurdles in Seoul. Her epic last minute dip to take victory from the Soviet Tatyana Ledovskaya will long be remembered. |
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Debra Flintoff King was born in Melbourne in 1960 and competed in athletics, as well as other sports, in school and in her teenage years. Not blessed with prodigous athletic abilites, she specialised in the pentathlon as her best events were the 100m Hurdles and the Long Jump. When the five-event pentathlon changed to the seven-event heptathlon, Debbie gave the multi event away in favour of the 400m Hurdles, which was to be included in international championships. Over two seasons she cut her best to an internationally respectable 57.94 in 1981 and became number two in Australia behind Western Australian Lyn Young-Foreman. At the trials for the 1982 Commonwealth Games she upset Foreman to take a place in her first international team and went on to take the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games with a new Commonwealth record of 55.89. She also won a silver medal as part of the 4x400m relay team - the first of three consecutive Commonwealth silvers for Debbie in this event. She appeared to stagnate a little in 1983 (when she could only make the semi-finals in the World Championships) and in 1984 (where she made the Olympic final against a depleted field) but came back with a vengeance in 1985. In 1985 she competed widely on the Grand Prix circuit in Europe and came second in the Grand Prix final to the USA's Judi Brown-King. After this, she returned to Australia to run third in the World Cup 400m Hurdles. Throughout 1986 she continued to improve and also broadened her horizons to the flat 400m in response to a challenge by Raelene Boyle. This resulted in new Australian records of 50.78 and 53.76 over both events during 1986. She won a unique 400m/400m Hurdles double at the 1986 Commonwealth Games and became one of the stars of the Games. Her hurdles world ranking rose to number three. In 1987 she again ran at the highest level, winning a silver medal behind East Germany's Sabine Busch in the World Championships and herself winning the Grand Prix crown to become the first Australian athlete to do this. Leading into the important Olympic year in 1988 Debbie had injury worries and disagreements with officials about her non-automatic selection for the Games team. There was another upset just prior to her leaving to compete overseas, when her sister died. In the Seoul Games, Flintoff won her heat easily and then had a tough semi-final battle with the almost unknown Russian Tatiana Ledovskaya. In what was a prelude to the final, the Russian went out very fast and Debbie wound her in over the last 100m, edging ahead on the tape to win by a nose. It was almost a repeat of the semi-final in two days time when the women raced the final. Ledovskaya again led out hard with Debbie in about fourth place behind the East Germans Busch and Fiedler. Into the home straight, the Russian was well ahead but the Australian was gaining on the Germans. Over the last two hurdles, Ledovskaya was tiring and Flintoff-King gaining, but it was Flintoff's sprint to the line from the last hurdle that won her first place over her rival. Debbie Flintoff-King won by just 0.1 of a second, in a new Commonwealth record time of 53.17 - the second fastest time in history. Debbie continued to compete through until 1990 when she was defeated in the Commonwealth Games 400m Hurdles by Britain's future Olympic Champion Sally Gunnell. In 1991 she had a baby, Amber and became involved in coaching - assisting Lauren Hewitt. In her career she set ten Australian
(including eight Commonwealth) records for 400m Hurdles and also set
two Australian records for 400m flat. But Debbie Flintoff-King will
always be remembered for that magificent finishing effort to take gold
in the 1988 Olympic Games. |
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