1981 U.K. WOMEN

Field hockey's Val Robinson returned to defend the title she had won so easily two years earlier. The field included four medalists from the Olympic Games in Moscow. Robinson would not find it so easy to win as she had done in 1979. Nine events were contested, with each athlete choosing seven. The first event was swimming and the techniques of the women varied greatly. Kathy Smallwood started in the pool and did a backstroke; Val Robinson swam a breaststroke and Angela Smith essentially just fell into the pool and swam very slowly. The cycling came down to a duel between the two sprinters as Smallwood edged Donna Hartley in the final. Robinson failed to score in the cycling, leaving her with just four points after two events. Badminton came easily to squash's Angela Smith, as she won both her matches 9-0. Nora Perry won her second event by defeating Val Robinson in an archery tiebreaker. Robinson's comeback continued with a win in the basketball, just four tenths of a second over Perry. Swimmer Helen Jameson defeated gymnast Suzanne Dando in the canoeing final and Robinson won the 100 meters by over a second. There was a bit of controversy as one of the judges lost count of the number of straddle jumps that Donna Hartley completed in the obstacle course, causing her to do 20 rather than the required 15; Hartley declined to launch an official protest. Dando won the obstacle course to come within two points of Robinson with one event remaining, but Robinson won the 400 meters by over 5 seconds to clinch her second title.

Grangemouth, Scotland

Competition Dates: N/A

Air Dates: January 30, 1981

Announcers: David Vine and Ron Pickering.


PLC. NAME, SPORT

SWIM

CYCL

BADM

ARCH

BSKT

CANO

100M

OC

400

TOTAL

MONEY

1. Val Robinson, Field Hockey
4
0
-
7
10
-
10
1
10
42
N/A
2. Suzanne Dando, Gymnastics
-
0
-
2
4
7
7
10
4
34
N/A
3. Nora Perry, Badminton
10
1
-
10
7
1
1
0
-
30
N/A
4. Kathy Smallwood, 100/200 Meters
2
10
7
-
1
0
-
7
-
27
N/A
5. Donna Hartley, 400 Meters
7
7
2
0
2
4
-
4
-
26
N/A
6. Angela Smith, Squash
1
-
10
1
0
0
4
-
7
23
N/A
7. Helen Jameson, Swimming
-
2
1
4
0
10
-
2
1
20
N/A
8. Sharron Davies, Swimming
-
4
4
0
-
2
2
0
2
14
N/A

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE ON YOUTUBE

 

INDIVIDUAL EVENT RESULTS

SWIMMING - 50 Meters

1. Nora Perry

38.4
2. Donna Hartley

41.2e
3. Val Robinson

46.8e
4. Kathy Smallwood

N/A
5. Angela SMith

N/A

CYCLING - 400 Meters Road Course

1. Kathy Smallwood

46.9
45.5e
2. Donna Hartley

46.2
45.6e
3. Sharron Davies

48.6
46.9e
4. Helen Jameson

48.6
5. Nora Perry

48.7
6. Suzanne Dando
49.2
7. Val Robinson
49.9
  

BADMINTON

1. Angela Smith

10
2. Kathy Smallwood

7
3. Sharron Davies

4
4. Donna Hartley

2
5. Helen Jameson
1
Smith d. Hartley
9-0
Smallwood d. Jameson
9-6
Smallwood d. Davies
9-0
Davies d. Hartley
9-4
Smith d. Smallwood
9-0

ARCHERY

1. Nora Perry

32 *
2. Val Robinson

32
3. Helen jameson

28
4. Suzanne Dando

27
5. Angela Smith

20
6. Sharron Davies
13
7. Donna Hartley
12
8. Kathy Smallwood
1
* - Perry defeated Robinson in a tiebreaker 41-21.

BASKETBALL - dribble from half court, 5 shots against clock

1. Val Robinson

46.4
2. Nora Perry

46.8
3. Suzanne Dando

49.8
4. Donna Hartley

51.9
5. Kathy Smallwood

56.5
6. Angela Smith

60.9
7. Helen Jameson
N/A

CANOEING

1. Helen Jameson

48.44

47.9e
2. Suzanne Dando

47.43

50.1e
3. Donna Hartley

49.12
50.3e
4. Sharron Davies

50.84
50.9e
5. Nora Perry

53.68
6. Angela Smith
54.87
7. Kathy Smallwood
1:24.65

100 METERS

1. Val Robinson

13.1 r
2. Suzanne Dando

14.2e
3. Angela Smith

14.6e
4. Sharron Davies

14.9e
5. Nora Perry
15.0e

OBSTACLE COURSE

1. Suzanne Dando 51.0
51.0
2. Kathy Smallwood

57.5
1:00.4e
3. Donna Hartley

59.5
4. Helen Jameson

1:01.9
5. Val Robinson
1:04.5
6. Sharron Davies
1:11.3
7. Nora Perry
1:34.8

400 METERS

1. Val Robinson
1:04.0e
2. Angela Smith
1:09.2e
3. Suzanne Dando
1:09.5e
4. Sharron Davies
1:10.4e
5. Helen Jameson
1:10.8e

 

e = estimated time

r = Superstars record

N/A = result not available

dnf - did not finish

nm - no mark

HOME