Christel, Christa and Phil Raschker (right) at recent meet.
For her latest world record, Canada’s
Christa Bortignon traveled to
Stendal, Germany, for the first masters multi-eventer at the Stendaler-Hanse-Cup meet, reports World Masters Athletics. She broke the W75 heptathlon world record by nearly 1,000 points, raising
Christel Donley’s 5416 to 6406 and lowering her own pending WR in the 200 to 33.86 seconds.
(See results here.) I wrote Christel for her reaction, and she graciously replied: “She deserves it, totally! I had it for three years, and records are there to be broken. In two years, I will be in another age group, hope I can make it. Also,
Flo [Meiler] is constantly telling me/us that she wants the records… Poor me, ha-ha. I root for anybody who can do things that we never dreamed of!” Christa’s marks were: 80-meter hurdles (18.31), high jump (1.09 or 3-6 3/4), shot put (7.47 or 24-6 1/4), 200 (33.86), long jump (3.26 or 10-8 1/4), javelin (14.00 or 45-11 1/4) and 800 (3:55.02).
Christa is celebrated after smashing W75 heptathlon record in Germany.
5 Responses
That 33.86 in the 200 is particularly notable, as the listed world mark is quite a bit higher: 34.40 by the great Paula Schneiderhan of Germany. That record was set 16 years ago in Durban and had survived a bevy of challenges until this performance by Christa.
I have no doubt that Christa could do even better in the 200 if she ran it as just one of two or three events in a meet.
Awesome! Very inspiring. Keep up the great work, Christa!!
The 33.86 for 200m in a heptathlon is amazing.
I’m a middle-distance runner who is 20 years younger, and 33 sec 200s with a flying start feels like red-lining!
Thanks you for your kind words, Christel and Peter.
It was an amazing meet. Everything first class: venue, organizers, officials and volunteers. I can recommend this meet to any multi-eventer for next year. Easy to get to: fly to Amsterdam and take the train to Stendal, then walk to the hotel. Almost everyone speaks English.
I think Christa should be WMA Athlete of the Year!
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