In defence of her title Losch led the qualifiers with 20.39, but
Lisovskaya – undefeated since 1986 – was favourite, and she dominat-
ed the event in a Slupianek-like way. Her first throw of 21.69 won the
gold medal, and her six throws averaged 21.58, well in advance of the
21.07 and 21.06 thrown by the other medallists, Neimke and Li. Only
Slupianek’s 22.41 in Moscow was better in any international champi-
onship of the 20th century. Lisovskaya later married double hammer
champion Yuriy Sedykh.