the 150 m had some significance as a regular indoor event in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of indoor tracks matching that distance. wales held a national championship over the distance up to 1972 and finland briefly has a women's national championship in the mid 1960s. a relay version of the distance (4 × 150 metres) was contested at the 1967 european athletics indoor championships and was won by the soviet union's women's team. the distance attracted the attention of 1980 olympic 200 m champion pietro mennea, whose hand-timed run of 14.8 seconds in cassino, italy, in 1983 stood as a world best time for over a quarter of a century. italy also provided a women's 150 m best that same decade, with jamaican merlene ottey setting a time of 16.46 seconds in trapani in 1989 – a world best mark which was unbeaten for over two decades.