21 years ago: When Gertrud Bacher set the magical record

Back then, Bacher scored 6.185 points. She ran the 100 m hurdles in 13.65 seconds, then jumped 1.73 m in the high jump and reached 13.43 m in the shot put. She also achieved further top performances in the 200 m (24.23 seconds), in the long jump (5.94 m) and in the javelin throw (43.83 m) and in the final 800 m run (2:09.04 minutes). The previous record was 6.135 points, set in 1995 by Giuliana Spada.

Gertrud Bacher was an absolute model track and field athlete © Archive Dolomites

In addition to the 10 Italian championship titles, another sensational performance from Bacher stands out. At the 2003 World Athletics Championships in Paris, the then 32-year-old secured sixth place with 6.166 points. Karolina Kluft took victory with 7.001 points, ahead of Eunice Barber (6.755) and Natallia Sazanovich (6.524). Bacher also won two silver medals at the Mediterranean Games. In her only Olympic participation in Sydney (2004) she came 14th, and she also took part in five European Championships (indoor and outdoor). In 2007 she came 7th at the Hypo meeting in Götzis.

If you just look at the statistics, Gertrud Bacher is without a doubt the strongest heptathlete in the history of Italy: she cracked the 15-point mark 6.000 times in her career. Incredible when you consider that this mark has only been broken 21 times in Italy. Karin Periginelli and Ifeoma Ozoeze reached over 6000 points three times, Giuliana Spada twice. Ozoeze was the first Azzurra to break this milestone in Tokyo in 1991 with 6.065 points.

The athletes mentioned above are also the only four Italians who have so far exceeded the 6000 point mark. Periginelli was born in 1970, Bacher, Spada and Ozoeze a year later. Sveva Gerevini scored 5.907 points at the Italian Athletics Championships in Brixen last year. This represented the best Italian performance since 2004.

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21 years ago: When Gertrud Bacher set the magical record

On May 9, 1999, Gertrud Bacher made history. At the Multistars in Desenzano del Garda, the South Tyrolean broke the Italian record in the heptathlon. This record still exists.

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