At the Commonwealth Games in 1958, Anna Pazera’s fourth javelin throw smashed the world record by one and a half metres.
At the young age of 20 and competing for her home country Poland at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Anna Wojtaszek made a momentous decision to stay in
Australia after the Games finished.
In Warsaw, at 18, she had had her first successful taste of international competition in the World Youth Festival Games with a commendable throw of 47.1 metres.
She caught the eye of the Polish selectors after she won the 1956 Polish national title, and was selected for the 1956 Olympics, where she finished 9th, throwing under her personal best.
Clearly, she had a lot on her mind at the time. After Melbourne she moved to Adelaide, married and through marriage changed her name to Anna Pazera.
The significant personal adjustments being undertaken tempered her results for a while, seeing her fall out of the world’s top 20.
After gradually settling into her new home in SA, she returned to good form qualifying for the 1958 Commonwealth Games with a throw of 49.34m.
But in those Games, something sensational was to unfold. Her opening throw of 46.8m was relatively modest but still had her in possible medal contention. The next two throws were fouls.
Whether they were caused by nerves, it is unclear, but what happened next demonstrated the sheer fight contained within this remarkable woman.
Anna Pazera’s fourth round throw not only took her to first place, a huge personal best, but also most amazingly, set a new world record of 57.4m. In this triumphant moment, she beat the second placed thrower by a massive nine metres. South Australia was a proud state.
She was selected for the Rome Olympics – this time for Australia – where her 51.15m won her 6 th place. Two Olympics and a finalist on both occasions. In 1964 Anna was unable to reach the finals.
Anna Pazera retired from the sport after an outstanding career which included a world record, two Olympic finals out of three appearances, three Commonwealth medals and six national titles.
She is known now as Anna Bocson and is a member of Athletics Australia Hall of Fame and SA Athletics Hall of Fame and SA Sports Hall of Fame.
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