East Germans Set World Records in Three Events at East Berlin Meet

Three East Germans--shotputter Ulf Timmermann, women’s 400-meter hurdler Sabine Busch and women’s long jumper Heike Drechsler--set world track and field records Sunday at East Berlin.

Timmermann threw the shot 74 feet 2 1/2 inches, beating the mark of 72-10 3/4 set in 1983 by East German Udo Beyer.

Busch ran the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 53.56 seconds, eclipsing the record of 53.58 set by Margarita Ponomaryova of the Soviet Union last year, and Drechsler leaped 24-5, surpassing the mark of 24-4 1/2 established by Anisoara Cusmir of Romania in 1983.

The 6-3, 253-pound Timmermann threw the shot 71-8 3/4 in his first try, a world-class effort. The second throw brought him the record before 7,000 cheering fans in the East Berlin Sport Forum.

“This is just fantastic,” the 22-year-old mechanical engineering student said. “It was just a perfect throw. I never could have imagined beating the world record by so much.”

Timmermann said he now rates his chances high against the best Soviet and American athletes in next month’s World Cup meet at Canberra, Australia.

Olympic champion Carl Lewis won the long jump and world record-holder Sergei Bubka of the Soviet Union took the pole vault title for one of 13 Soviet victories in 20 events in a United States-Soviet Union-Japan meet at Tokyo.

Overall, in the three-way scoring, the Soviets beat the Americans, 221-164, and the Japanese, 258-127, in the two-day meet. The United States beat Japan, 248-141. Since 1958, the Soviet Union has a 14-3-1 record against the United States.

Lewis, winner of four gold medals at the L.A. Olympics, jumped 27-2 and beat Robert Emmiyan of the Soviet Union by six inches amid intermittent rain.

“I had a difficult day. I’m not used to running multiple events,” Lewis said after winning before 50,000 fans at the National Olympic Stadium.

Lewis won the 100 meters Saturday in 10.12 seconds and anchored the winning 400-meter relay. It was the first time he had competed in three events since the Olympics.

Bubka, whose pole-vault record is 19-8, won at 18-8 1/2.

“I was in top condition, but the wind and the rain were just in the way,” Bubka said.

Other world record-holders who won Sunday included Soviets Natalia Lisovskaya in the women’s shotput at 68-, Igor Paklin in the men’s high jump at 7-6 1/2 and Margarita Ponomaryova in the women’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 55.83.

The only world record-holder to be upset was Yuri Syedikh of the Soviet Union in the hammer throw. He finished second to countryman Yuri Tamm’s 275-1. Syedikh, whose record is 283-3, threw 250-6.

American Kirk Baptiste, Olympic silver medalist in the 200 meters, won in 20.34, and Olga Vladykina of the Soviet Union took the women’s 200 in 22.53.

Soviet runners also won the men’s 400-meter hurdles, with Alexander Vasilyev finishing in 49.67.