On this day in 1984: Canadian Lynn Kanuka wins Olympic bronze in L.A.
It was on this day in 1984 that Canadian Lynn Kanuka won bronze in the women's 3,000m at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
SK Athlete Profile: Track athlete Lynn (Kanuka) Williams from Regina won a bronze medal at the 1984 Olympic Games pic.twitter.com/nqtjg4YoIK
— Tourism Regina (@TourismRegina) April 16, 2016
It was on this day in 1984 that a Canadian woman produced one of the greatest performances in the nation’s Olympic history. Lynn Kanuka (at the time she went by Lynn Williams) won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in 1984 in the women’s 3,000m.
RELATED: Interactive map: The hometown of every runner on Canada’s Olympic team.
The 1984 Olympic women’s 3,000m was famous for a mid-race incident between American Mary Decker and Britain’s Zola Budd. The two were involved in a tangle and Decker went down and did not finish in front of the home crowd. Budd went on to finish seventh.
Budd, who was born in South Africa, gained British citizenship which allowed her to compete in the Games. Her home country was banned from competition in protest against its Apartheid regime and system of racial segregation. The ban lasted until 1992. Budd competed again for South Africa at that Games.
RELATED: Complete list of runners on Canada’s Olympic track team.
On this day in history, Kanuka ran 8:42.14 to win the bronze medal behind Wendy Sly of Great Britain and Romania’s Maricica Puică. Williams was just off the lead pack and stayed out of trouble as the fall happened about 10 metres in front of her. The fall took place at about the 1,650m-mark of the race. It can be seen at 5:10 in the below video.
The race
The Los Angeles Games added in the 3,000m for the first time as long distances had not been offered to women since the 1920s. That Games was also the first time that the women’s marathon was held at the Olympics.
Two years later, Kanuka went on to win a gold and a bronze at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in the 3,000m and 1,500m, respectively.
The Regina born-runner who now resides in the Greater Vancouver Area still holds the women’s 1,500m national record of 4:00.27 set in 1985. Her then-husband Paul Williams was also an accomplished runner having represented Canada at three consecutive Games from 1984 to 1992.
Kanuka was at the Canadian track and field championships in July where she cheered on runners looking to bid their ticket to the Olympics. Gabriela Stafford and Hilary Stellingwerff, both of who will run the 1,500m in Rio, managed to get a photo with Kanuka.
Past, present & future: Canadian women’s 1500m always strong! #LynnKanuka @AthleticsCanada @TeamCanada @gstafford13 pic.twitter.com/ZjKt7BZRD4
— Hilary Stellingwerff (@hstellingwerff) July 10, 2016
Kanuka continues to work as a coach and coordinates the elite program for the Vancouver Marathon.
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