Article by Giovanni Manenti
If we ask any athlete of any discipline whether, at the beginning of his career, he would sign up to conclude it with a Palmarès consisting of two world titles and three European titles, as well as two silvers in the latter eventwe are almost certain that the vast majority would accept…
Yet, despite having achieved these results during his competitive activity which lasted for an entire twenty years, the protagonist of our story today says little or nothing to athletics enthusiastsand the reason is easy to say, namely not having obtained the same “at the light of the Sun”.
Yes, because the Dutch middle distance runner Elly van Hulst, born on 9 June 1959 in Culemborg, a city of less than 30 thousand inhabitants located in Gelderlandmanages to give the best of herself only in indoor competitions, where you can leave behind athletes of greater international standingby which it is regularly beaten in outdoor competitions…
Athlete capable of matching the fast middle distance (800 and 1500 metres) to the long distance (3, 5 and 10 thousand metres) van Hulst literally dominates the national panorama, which saw her win overall 9 titles on the double lap of the track, as many consecutive (from 1981 to 1989) on the 1500 m, and 10 (9 consecutive from 1982 to 1990 and a tenth in 1993) on the 3000 mto which he added two victories (1983-’84) on the 5000 m, seasons in which he also won the titles on the double distance.
An authentic “middle distance workaholic”, van Hulst gets hers first Dutch Champion title in 1978 at just 19 years old in the 800 metres – a specialty then largely abandoned, given that its “Personal Best” in the career of 1’59”62 dates back to the beginning of August 1981 in breaking latest news – after the previous year he had come close to the podium European Junior Championships in Donetsk, placing fourth in 2’03”9meanwhile, selected for the absolute European Championships at the end of August 1978 in Prague, she did not pass the heats…
Continental event which sees the now 23-year-old Dutchwoman registered for both distances of the fast middle distance running four years later in the edition of Athens 1982, where her progress in the 800 meters came to a standstill this time in the semi-final, running in 2’02″62, while in the 1500 m, held in a single race given the only 13 participants, she finished eighth in 4’07″76his best time at the time.
Not selected for the inaugural edition of the World Championships held in 1983 in Helsinki due to a decline in form, van Hulst began to “become familiar” with the Indoor Events, which see it, on the occasion of Continental Review at the beginning of March 1984 in Gothenburg, taking his first medal, silver (4’10”03 to 4’11”09) behind the Romanian Fita Lovin in the 1500m Final where the Italian Gabriella Dorio finishes in last place…
It therefore presented itself with renewed ambitions to Los Angeles Olympics the following August – also given the simultaneous absence of Eastern European specialists, excluding Romanian – van Hulst “it melts in the sun” Californian, failing to reach the 800m Final (fifth in the first of the two semi-finals, even though the slowest…) and then finish 12th and last on 1500m in the race, ironically, won by Doriodemonstrating that indoor and outdoor are two completely different disciplines.
Maybe it will be better to go back to trying indoors, the blonde Dutch girl must have thought, a decision that pays off immediately given that the first edition (unofficial, although organized by the IAAF…) of the World Indoor Championships taking place in mid-January 1989 in Paris, you get a tasty revenge on Lovin in the 1500m Final, overtaking her (4’11”41 to 4’11”42) in the sprintmaking the most of his long levers (1.77m for 56kg)…
First significant international affirmation, even if early March in Athens van Hulst did not go beyond sixth place at the European Indoor Championships which certify the superiority (title to Doina Melinte ahead of Lovin, 4’02″54 to 4’03″45) of the Romanian specialists, a circumstance which induces the Dutch to “lengthen your pace” at the double distance of 3000 meters where, in the following four years, it reaches the peak of its activity competitive.
Season, 1986, which has its highlight in the Continental Review at the end of August in Stuttgart and to which the now 27-year-old Dutchman is approaching coming close to the podium in the 1500m at the European Indoor Championships which take place in the last week of February in Madridat the end of a tactical race which saw the success in the sprint (4’14″25 to 4’14″29) of the Soviet Svetlana Kitova over her compatriot Tatyana Lebonda…
If the outcome of the Final in the Spanish capital is certainly lower than expected, it is more positive the outdoor debut for van Hulst, who ran the 1500m in Stockholm at the beginning of July, bringing her personal best to 4’04”32a circumstance which allows it to be included in the “Top Ten” of the end of the season drawn up by the prestigious US magazine “Track & Field News”, although in tenth position.
However, the chronometric aspect does not correspond to adequate placings on German soil, as the Dutch middle-distance runner, although qualifying for both the 1500 and 3000 meter Finals, she sadly finished no better than 11th over the shortest distance and ninth over the three kilometerstests that certify the superiority of the Soviet and Romanian specialists…
To lift van Hulst’s morale, five days after the end of the European Championships, the excellent performance on the Miglio al “Memorial Van Dammand” in Brussels, where he achieved his “Personal Best” over the distance in 4’22”40and then, at the beginning of the following season, to face in within two weeks the European Indoor Championships in Lievin and the World Championships in Indianapolis, in both cases registered only for the 3000 meters.
The trip to France is productive, as the Dutchman grasps his second silver in the Continental Review, clearly preceded (8’46″06 to 8’51″40) by the British Yvonne Murray who, on the occasion, also established the Championships record, while in the United States she finished no better than eighth with 8’57″46 in a Final dominated by the Soviet champions Tatyana Samolenko and Olga Bondarenko, who occupied the first two steps of the podium with the respective times of 8’46”52 and 8’47”06…
As regards outdoor activities, on the other hand, 1987 was the year of the second edition of the World Cup which took place in Rome at the beginning of September and right on the track of the “Olympic Stadium“, on the occasion of the “Golden Gala” of July 22, van Hulst completes a valid test on 1500m, run in 4’08”43 which leads her to gamble the “double chance” iridescent.
The first race scheduled is that of m.3000, for which the Dutch qualified with the fourth best time but, despite achieving her best performance of the season in 8’42”56, it only earned her sixth placewith Samolenko prevailing in the sprint (8’38″73 to 8’39″45) over the Romanian Maricica Puica, times that are currently unapproachable for van Hulst…
The 26-year-old Soviet girl of Ukrainian origin gave an encore four days later in the 1500m final, setting the Championship record in 3’58”56 at the end of a three-way sprint that saw the East German Hildegard Korner and Melinte complete the podium, crossing the finish line in 3’58”67 and 3’59”27 respectively, while the Dutchman, despite finishing the race no better than eighth, has little to complain about, having achieved a time of 4’03”63 his “Personal Best” on the distance.
Awarded by End of year ranking with confirmation of tenth place in the 1500m and ninth position in the 3000mvan Hulst faced 1988 with her second career success winning over 3000m at the Continental Indoor Show in Budapest with the Championships record of 8’44”50 and then, despite a series of good performances over the distance, not being able to pass the 1500m heats at the Seoul Games, even with a pinch of bad luck, given that his 4’07”40 represents the first of the excluded for just 0″34 cents…
The Dutchman has better luck on the double distance – where he also presents himself strong from having made on August 17th at “World class” of Zurich his career “Personal Best” stopping the clock at 8’33”97 and also preceding the American Mary Decker – as she achieves access to the 15-man Final, only for however, finishing the same in ninth position in 8’43”92 while Samolenko replicates the world title complete with an Olympic record of 8’26”53.
The remembered performance on the “Letzigrund” Swiss allows in any case to van Hulst to climb two positions in the year-end ranking, placing himself in seventh positionto then give life to his “Glory season” in 1989, whose winter session is centered, like two years before, on the double event of the European and World Indoor Championships…
Call to take to the track in front of their own audience in The Haguewhere she is registered on only 3000 m, the home darling does not intend to take risks and adapts to the slow pace imposed by her opponents, and then imposes her own change of pace in the final stages and goes on to win easily despite the unwatchable time of 9’10”01.
The objection is that on Dutch soil the lot of competitors was anything but irresistible, and no one intends to deny it, but when on 4 March 1989, in the Budapest Indoor World Championships competition, van Hulst was urged on by the British Liz McColgan (someone used to always running at the limit…), accepts the challenge and then prevail in the final stages and also set the indoor world record for the distance in 8’33”82destined to last for 12 years…
This feat allows the Dutchman, at the age of 30, to be awarded as “Dutch Female Athlete of the Year”, as well as to go up in third place in the end-of-season rankingwith the expectation of being able, despite his age, to have “still something to say” in the panorama of international middle distance running, but something goes wrong…
After having, in fact, conquered his third consecutive continental title on 3000m at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow, having the better in the sprint (8’57”28 to 8’57”50) over the Romanian Margareta Keszeg (bronze world championship the year before in Budapest…) here the Dutchman begins to suffer from strange physical ailments which also give her frequent fatigue, the cause of which the doctors do not discover until two years later, tracing them back to a viral infection.
This situation logically has repercussions on the performance of van Hulst, who was forced to give up both the 1991 Tokyo World Championships and the 1992 Barcelona Olympicswhile at the Iridata Indoor Show in Seville 1991 she finished in ninth and last position and at the European one in Genoa 1992 she finished fifth in 9’02″85, but the troubles are not over yet…
It happens, in fact, that the athlete contracts, due to the aforementioned infection, asthma induced by sporting activity, to treat which prescribed a drug that is included in the list of prohibited substances by the IAAF, so that she is forced to suspend its use, compromising her performancesixth at the 1993 Toronto Indoor World Championships and ninth at the 1994 Paris Continental Indoor Show.
Ironically, in 1996 the Dutchman was told that the drug in question was deemed harmless and therefore removed from the list of banned substancesbut by now it was too late, and also 37 years old, to be able to think about training for the Atlanta Games…
Thus ends the “Career in the shadow” from the strongest Dutch middle distance runner of all timeswith the legitimate doubt as to whether, without the occurrence of the two aforementioned circumstances, she would have been able or not, having reached the pinnacle of her career, to have also put a “outdoor medal” …
But no one will ever know this anyway…