Javelin star talks about a life-changing moment, the joy of being able to make an important social impact, the power of rivalries and the desire to help British throwers rise to the top again

It was the perfect start. I automatically thought: Okay you lot. Get that! says Tessa Sanderson as she casts her mind back to the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics and her first throw in the javelin final. It flew to 69.56m, breaking the Olympic record.

The then 28-year-old had eased through qualification but the final had looked like being a considerably taller order. Two of her 11 fellow finalists in particular stood out. The first was reigning world champion Tiina Lillak who arrived as the world record-holder under the old javelin model that was eventually changed in 1999 with 74.76m.

Fatima Whitbread also had the Olympic gold medal in her sights, with the Briton having painfully lost out on the world title late on to Lillak in Hesinki. This top trio had all had to battle physical issues on the way to LA.

Lillak was dealing with a stress fracture to her right foot, Whitbread a stomach operation in the immediate build-up to the Games, while a ruptured Achilles tendon and then broken throwing arm in 1981 had ruled Sanderson out of action for 22 months and she had only returned to the global stage to finish fourth at the World Championships.

LA was an opportunity to create history. No British thrower had ever won an Olympic gold medal and Sanderson was desperate to improve on her previous two appearances at the Games, having placed 10th at Montreal 1976 before failing to get out of qualifying at Moscow 1980. There was a lot behind that opening throw in LA.

When I released the javelin I knew it was good. It was then about the point hitting the ground and making a mark. When it did that and a little bit of turf came out I thought thats it!

I just had the mindset of hitting it as hard as I could in the first round and then letting everybody else worry. Thats exactly what happened. It was just amazing. I knew it was a tough distance [to beat]. Win, lose or draw, follow that. Thats the way it was I loved it!

Lillak and Whitbread couldnt better Sandersons mark. The Finn came close with a second-round throw of 69.00m but failed in her following four attempts. Whitbread achieved a distance of 67.14m in the fifth round but couldnt threaten her compatriot.

Perhaps unwittingly, Lillak had in fact played a key role in Sandersons rise to Olympic gold. It was seeing that world record-breaking performance at the World Championships that provided an important benchmark.

I thought I was going to nick the [world] bronze medal in Helsinki, the now 68-year-old says. But Anna Verouli came through and got third. Fatima had the best throw until that last one when Tiina came back [with the world record].

I thought: Jesus that was unbelievable! It was good for me to be in that environment and it put me in the perspective of where I wanted to be ahead of the Olympics.

So what did it mean for to stand on the top step of the podium? What do you feel when winning an Olympic gold medal?

When my name came up on that screen, stating that Id won the gold medal, all the emotion started coming through my body and up to my throat, says Sanderson. When they put the medal around my neck and stated that Id done myself and my country proud, I couldnt even get my voice out! My eyes were stinging due to the tears.

Some of the crowd were singing God Save The Queen and I was like oh my god. Youd stuffed everybody else in the world and here you are as an Olympic champion. It was the ultimate goal. I didnt realise at the time it was history in the making. It was only when I got home that I realised it.

Sandersons homecoming party wasnt just about celebrating the gold medal, it was also recognition of overcoming adversity to reach the pinnacle of her sport. She wasnt just Great Britains first ever Olympic throwing champion but also the first black British woman to win any Olympic title. It hadnt been a simple journey to the podium.

As a seven-year-old, she travelled from Jamaica to live a new life in Wednesfield, Wolverhampton. Her dad became a sheet-metal worker and mum a hairdresser.

Sanderson took up the javelin in her early teenage years and was spotted by her PE teacher Barbara Richards for having natural athletic talent. Such was her enthusiasm to get Sanderson to her first athletics club, Wolverhampton and Bilston, that Richards went round to the family house and spoke to her parents. At a time when racism was prevalent in the Midlands, the attention wasnt all positive, though.

There were still all these signs in the area about blacks dont need to be here, says Sanderson. I never had it [racism] during my competitions but I had to face that a little bit at school. My parents had taught me how to accept these things that were happening.

I enjoyed my school days, though. You learned how to fight back. I never put up this face of I want to escape. I wanted to experience the rest of the world and see what was ticking outside of the Midlands.

Money did not come easily either and, during the course of our interview, Sanderson repeatedly speaks of the importance of family, praising her parents for their work ethic and putting food on the table. From the age of 16, she worked too. Alongside her training in the early stages of her career, she was also a tea lady and typist.

Did she have to work harder in life to achieve her goals? Definitely, she says. It was tough but what it did give me was the sense of knowing how to respect and appreciate these things.

I understood that when you found yourself in those tough moments, you could do things wholeheartedly, without the pressures of thinking I havent got a penny. It hurts but I would never change it for the world. You dont have to be born with a golden spoon to achieve things in life.

There are moments that stick out for Sanderson during this period. For example, in 1977, the childrens charity the Variety Club came forward and offered her 1000, a sum she states was pivotal in helping her win Commonwealth gold in Edmonton a year later. Through the Variety Club, she was able to gain annual funding up until the LA 1984 Olympics.

She also pays tribute to her coach Wilf Paish, from the Carnegie Institute of Physical Education in Leeds, who allowed her to stay with him and his family for a couple of years after the 1980 Olympics.

When she returned with the gold from Los Angeles, Sanderson never forgot that support and her journey reached every corner of her community.

When I came back, I had never seen so many girls, and black girls, throw a javelin, she says. The event had a little bit of taboo. I wasnt the biggest or strongest athlete and when you compared me to other bulkier women, a lot of girls were put off throwing.

As Id come from the Caribbean and worked a lot in the community, people wanted to follow suit. Everyone was saying you did it, Tess and you stuffed them all! It was something Id never experienced.

Its a lovely feeling to know that I inspired so many girls. It doesnt matter what ethnicity it is. As long as women are moving forward in sport and theyre visible then Im happy.

Sandersons success was all the more impressive considering it came at a time where drugs were rife in the sport, especially among the Eastern bloc nations. She labels it as psychological warfare.

I felt I knew they were on it [drugs], Sanderson adds. I never really let it bother me and I proved that. I was the first person to beat Ruth Fuchs [the double Olympic champion and six-time world record-holder, who later admitted taking steroids] in so many years [at the European Cup semi-final in 1977].

She [Fuchs] actually invited me to come and train with her in East Germany. Of course I said no! But the thing was that it gave me a buzz [beating her]. If you were doing drugs, then poor you. At the end of the day, it catches up with you. You get caught, it ruins your life. You cannot go to a competition just worried about drugs.

Sandersons Olympic journey did not end in LA. In total, she competed at an incredible six Olympics from 1976 to 1996 and, at the time, was the second athlete to do so after Romanian discus thrower Lia Manoliu [1952-1972]. What was the secret to that longevity?

The challenges, says Sanderson, without any hesitation. It was the challenge of wanting to feel like I wasnt finished [after her injuries]. I watched the 1982 Commonwealth Games, saw the way they were throwing and thought: Im sure I could still come back and do that.

The rivalries between myself and Tiina and Fatima were also a big factor and they really did make me tick. I never went into any competition half-heartedly. Its nice taking part but I believed in winning.

Looking back on it all now, tough competition helped make me. It was important to have the rivalry. Every time she [Whitbread] was there, it made me aware and I wanted to beat her. Im sure she thought the same. It wasnt about being bosom pals, what the hell did we want to do that for?

Sanderson and Whitbread, alongside the likes of David Ottley, Mick Hill, Steve Backley and Goldie Sayers, come from an era of British javelin that saw them all win major global medals. The current landscape is much different and no British javelin thrower has qualified for an Olympics since Sayers at London 2012.

Would Sanderson provide help to the next generation of throwers, in their ambitions for gold medals in an international arena? Absolutely, she says. But Ive never been asked [by UK Athletics].

Maybe they feel theyve got their own professional coaches at that level. Ive never been a coach but I have been in that arena and experienced elite level competition. Im not saying that a lot of throwing coaches arent doing their job correctly but what I do know is the feeling that I have on throws. Maybe I can spot a few things here and there.

I have had a couple of the athletes call me. After the European Championships and what went on [no javelin throwers were selected on the British team for Rome], maybe we can sit down, have a chat and look at how I was training. Id love to talk.