Caught in Time: Zimbabwe win hockey gold, 1980 Moscow Olympics | The Sunday Times

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Caught in Time: Zimbabwe win hockey gold, 1980 Moscow Olympics

Cathy Harris
Published: 11 May 2008

A balmy summer's morning in Moscow in 1980 turned into an unforgettable day in the history of the newly independent Zimbabwe. Liz Chase provided the pass and Pat McKillop scored the goal to seal a 4-1 victory over Austria as Zimbabwe wrote themselves into the record books as the first winners of the women's Olympic hockey gold medal. It was their first Olympic medal of any colour. Ann Grant, the captain, a 25-year-old bookkeeper from Harare, led her ecstatic side on to the podium to acknowledge the acclaim for an extraordinary triumph.

Most western nations boycotted the Games in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. With the best teams out of the tournament, including Holland, Germany and Australia, the organisers were forced to invite countries that would never have qualified. In the round-robin six-team format featuring the hosts, Poland, Austria, India and Czechoslovakia, Zimbabwe remained unbeaten.

It was a

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