Budd smashes 5,000 metres record
1985 - Zola Budd slashed nearly 11 seconds off the world record for the women’s 5,000 metres and beat former holder Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway into a distant second place at Crystal Palace. The 19-year-old South Africa born Budd, who was granted British citizenship, clocked 14 minutes 48.07 seconds to demolish Kristiansen’s former mark of 14:58.89 by 10.82 seconds. Kristiansen, 29, was second some 50 metres behind but her time of 14:57.43 also broke her former record, set in Oslo in June last year. Budd, running barefoot, shared the lead with Kristiansen through the first eight laps, but made her move with four laps to go and surge away. “Ingrid and I didn’t set out to break the world record, but I am really pleased that I did,” Budd said.
Other important events on August 26
1847 - Liberia is proclaimed an independent republic.
1883 - The volcano Krakatoa erupts on the island Krakatau, near Indonesia, creating tsunami waves that killed more than 36,000 people.
1934 - Adolf Hitler demands that France turn over the Saar region to Germany.
1936 - Treaty ends British occupation of Egypt, except Suez Canal zone.
1950 - UN troops recapture Seoul from the North Koreans.
1959 - Chinese troops cross into India’s northeastern territory after a border dispute.
1964 - Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, bans two black nationalist movements.
1989 - At least 19 people are killed, including 12 guerrillas, in battle in southern Mozambique town of Macio.
1990 - Number of US soldiers, airmen and sailors in the Gulf reaches 60,000.
1996 - A South Korean court sentences former president Chun Doo-hwan to death on charges of masterminding a 1979 coup.
1997 - South Africa’s F.W. de Klerk quits as leader of the opposition National Party.
1999 - American Michael Johnson breaks 11-year-old 400 metres record by 0.11 seconds.
2000 - Somalis celebrate the election of their first president in nearly a decade.
2003 - Paul Kagame wins Rwanda presidential elections.
2012 - Lydia Ko of New Zealand becomes the youngest winner in the LPGA Tour after winning the Canadian Women’s Open.
2014 - A permanent ceasefire between Israel and fighters in Gaza is reached, ending a seven-week Israeli assault.
