Margareta Simu
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Sweden
IAAF World Race Walking Cup
Gold medal – first place 1975 Grand-Quevilly 5 km walk
Bronze medal – third place 1977 Milton Keynes 5 km walk

Margareta Simu (born 2 May 1953 in Västerås) is a Swedish former racewalking athlete. She competed three times at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup and was the winner in 1975 and bronze medallist in 1977. On her last appearance in 1979 she placed eighth.[1]

Simu broke world racewalking records several times. She set a 10 km walk world record of 51:01 minutes in 1972, finally improving on Stina Lindberg's near-30-year-old time. She bettered this to 49:04 minutes in 1976 and again to 48:53 minutes in 1978. Norwegian Thorill Gylder took that honour away from her in 1978 with a new best of 48:40 minutes.[2] Simu's time of 1:47:10 hours, set in 1973, was a 20 km walk world record for nearly four years.[3] She also broke the world indoor record for the 3000 m on four occasions (between 1974 and 1978).[4]

Simu was a three-time medallist at the Nordic Race Walking Championships, wither her best result being a gold medal in 1975.[5] She was twice champion at the short-lived Nordic Indoor Race Walking Championships, topping the podium in the 3000 m walk in 1974 and 1978, as well as taking bronze behind Siv Gustafsson and Elisabeth Olsson in 1976.[6] She was a seven-time Swedish national champion in racewalking, at distances from 3000 m to 10 km.[7]

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
1971 Nordic Race Walking Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 2nd 5000 m walk 26:15
1973 Nordic Race Walking Championships Fredrikstad, Norway 3rd 5000 m walk 25:52
1974 Nordic Indoor Race Walking Championships Turku, Finland 1st 3000 m walk 14:51.7
1975 Nordic Race Walking Championships Odense, Denmark 1st 5 km walk 23:43
IAAF World Race Walking Cup Grand-Quevilly, France 1st 5 km walk 23:40
1976 Nordic Indoor Race Walking Championships Östersund, Sweden 3rd 3000 m walk 14:48
1977 IAAF World Race Walking Cup Milton Keynes, United Kingdom 3rd 5 km walk 24:12
1978 Nordic Indoor Race Walking Championships Turku, Finland 1st 3000 m walk 13:46.1
1979 IAAF World Race Walking Cup Eschborn, West Germany 8th 5 km walk 23:48

National titles

References

  1. ^ IAAF World Race Walking Cup Taicang 2014 Facts & Figures. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-04-16.
  2. ^ Ohio Racewalker August 2010. RaceWalk. Retrieved on 2016-04-16.
  3. ^ Weltrekorde 20 km Gehen Frauen. Rekorde Im Sport. Retrieved on 2016-04-16.
  4. ^ istanbul-2012-statistics-book-part-5-of-5.pdf. IAAF (2012), pg. 321. Retrieved on 2016-04-16.
  5. ^ Nordic Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-04-16.
  6. ^ Nordic Indoor Race Walking Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-04-16.
  7. ^ a b Swedish Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-04-16.
Records Preceded byStina Lindberg Women's 10 km walk world record holder 24 June 1972 – 16 September 1978 Succeeded byThorill Gylder Preceded byIrma Hansson Women's 20 km walk world record holder 22 September 1973 – 16 July 19776 Succeeded byLilian Harpur
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