RADKE, LINA

born Oct. 18, 1903 byname of Karoline Radke-batschauer German athlete who set several middle-distance-running records between 1927 and 1930. Her 800-metre victory in the 1928 Olympic Gamesthe first Olympics to include women's athleticsset a world record that was not broken for 16 years. Distance running had been considered too exhausting for women athletes until the 1920s; the 800-metre run was one of the events in the first international women's track meet in 1921. Radke set a world record in the 800-metre to win the German championship in 1927 and exceeded that time in a race for the South German championship the next year. At the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, Radke closed with a burst of speed to win the gold medal, setting a world record time of 2 min 16 4/5 sec. Several runners collapsed at the end of the race. Although male athletes also often fainted after races, the International Olympic Committee concluded that the 800-metre run was too difficult for women and banned it from Olympic Games until 1960. Radke's final individual world record came in 1930, when she ran the 1,000 metres in 3 min 6 3/5 sec.