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They had day jobs, they were up against the regimented Russians and East Germans - and they're still delighted by their performance.
Four women gather around a table in the cafe of the National Film Theatre in London on a cold Sunday afternoon in February: two teachers and two self-described home-makers. It is at least 20 years since they last met as a group and yet there is a natural ease in their laughter and conversation.
Delightfully untainted by any air of sports stardom, the British sprint quartet of Heather Hunte (now Oakes), Kathy Smallwood (now Cook), Beverley Goddard (now Callender), and Sonia Lannaman ran in an era before lottery funding when they had to combine training with their jobs. Through the late Seventies and early Eighties, they dragged themselves on to the track on cold January mornings simply for the love of it.
Today, they discuss the Moscow Olympics, their nerves and their naivety about drugs like schoolgirls reminiscing about sports day. When I ask them about being relegated to the bronze by the muscle-bound East Germans and Russians there is a complete lack of bitterness. 'We were pleased on the day. Delighted to have our moment on the rostrum,' says Kathy Cook, now 45 and still the British record holder for the 100, 200 and 400 metres. She then tells an intriguing story. 'In Moscow all the second-leg runners were tested. I don't even know what team it was, but suddenly their running order would change. It was only after the race when we were all in the doping control room that I thought, "Hang on a minute - where's that girl who normally runs the second leg? Did she already know we were all going to get tested?" '
If anything the East Germans provided the perfect motivation for the team. 'They always had a reputation for being strong and good and we were just trying to get to their level. But that didn't necessarily mean you thought they were cheating,' suggests Beverley Callender, now 49 and a teacher and sprint coach herself. So what's the problem with British female sprinting at the moment? 'There are other sports and just more out there demanding their time,' says Sonia Lannaman, also 49 and the only British woman to run under 11 seconds with her 1976 wind-assisted time of 10.8. Although Heather Oakes, the 1986 Commonwealth 100m champion, is quick to remind us: 'I had a full time job.'
The story of women's sprinting continued after Moscow as Callender, Cook and Oakes came together with Simone Jacobs at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics to win another relay bronze. Indeed, only Colin Jackson has won more championship medals for Britain than Cook. As they leave to go back to their classrooms and look after their children, I ask what it's like to be part of the golden age of British female sprinting? They are almost embarrassed by the suggestion, although Kathy Cook does bashfully suggest: 'You always think your era was the best.' In their case, they would probably be right.
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