(Editor’s Note: George Kochman has been covering high school cross country and track and field at the Staten Island Advance for nearly 40 years. He has attended World Championships, the Olympics and many national events, but the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki have a special place in his heart.)
On a Sunday morning in early May, 1983, I stepped into the house after a run.
I was greeted by wife Rosemary, who said, “You’re going to the World Championships.”
I laughed, and kind of shrugged it off, and probably said something like, “Yeah, right.”
She had been talking with my friend Leo Massa, a 1960 U.S. cross-country skiing Olympian who was of Finnish descent.
I had met Leo Massa while coaching his son George at Holmdel HS. Massa, a successful builder and real estate agent in Holmdel, was a true sports fan, watching cross country meets at Holmdel Park from his car, then hurrying back to his office, two miles away.
He was also in the habit of calling on Sundays, and we’d talk about the latest track results. He was always interested in what ex- Monsignor Farrell star Frank McConville was doing, and how he was progressing at Georgetown. And if I wasn’t in, then he’d talk track with my wife.
The first World Championships were being held in Helsinki, and Leo had been telling me for months it would be great. But the cost of getting there, a place to stay, and all the general logistical details had to be worked out. I had no intention of going to Helsinki, but Leo changed my mind through Rosemary.
It’s been 40 years since the first Worlds, and this week, another World Championship meet opens in Budapest. But will it be as good as the first edition?
Many claim that the first Helsinki meet was the best of all the World Championships, and one of the greatest track meets of all time.
Three golds for Carl Lewis, a seemingly impossible task for Kratochvilova, the double Decker, Steve Cram, the emergence of Bubka, Marita Koch, and Tiina.
Massa eased some of the…
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