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 |
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