|  Author | Topic: Remembering the 1964 Tokyo Olympics (Read 244 times) |
NeonTiger
LEGEND
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'An extraordinary ordinary girl'
Joined: Oct 2006
Gender: Male 
Posts: 2,254
Location: Yorkshire
|  | Re: Remembering the 1964 Tokyo Olympics
« Reply #15 on Oct 20, 2009, 11:33am » | |
On October 20, 1964, Ann Packer, a 22-year-old schoolteacher and a member of Reading AC, completed a superb Games for Britain's women by claiming the 800m title in world record time (2.01.1). Seeking to atone for the twin disappointment of her silver medal in the 400m (the event in which she had been fancied to win gold) and fiancé Robbie Brightwell's 4th placing in the men's 400m, she ran impeccably in an event at which she was a novice.
In sixth place 200m out, she attacked going into the final bend and produced a stunning late burst in the home straight, winning by by five metres from Maryvonne Dupureur (FRA). 'It was so easy, I couldn't believe I had won,' was how she summed up the race.
She thus became the first British woman to win an Olympic track title - and the last until Sally Gunnell (400mH) 28 years later. Remarkably, this was only her eighth competitive race at 800m - and it would be her last at any distance. She retired after Tokyo ('Running a home is more important than running races', she explained) and married Robbie Brightwell in December 1964.
![[image]](http://i27.tinypic.com/v2y695.jpg)
Ann wins gold. 
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Lillian biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Board
Photos: http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=7731
'In such a short period she contributed so much to athletics, much more than medal winning and records. Her vivacity and personality mirrored the sport, its fun, the hard work, the failure and the success, perfectly.' (John Rodda, 'The Guardian') |
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NeonTiger
LEGEND
member is offline
'An extraordinary ordinary girl'
Joined: Oct 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,254
Location: Yorkshire
| | Re: Remembering the 1964 Tokyo Olympics
« Reply #16 on Oct 21, 2009, 12:32pm » | |
The Tokyo Olympics finished on October 21, 1964, but not before Britain's athletes had claimed two more medals. In the men's 4 x 400m final, the GB squad (Tim Graham, Adrian Metcalfe, John Cooper, Robbie Brightwell) took silver, with a European record of 3.01.6, as the USA won gold in world record time (3.00.7), while the women's 4 x 100m squad (Janet Simpson, Mary Rand, Daphne Arden, Dorothy Hyman) claimed a bronze medal in a time of 44.0, a new Commonwealth record.
This meant that the athletics squad had made a huge contribution to the British team's medal haul at these Games, taking all four of the gold medals, seven of the 12 silver medals and one of the two bronzes. Without their efforts, we would have finished 27th in the medal table rather than 10th!
Medal totals
GB athetics team 4 gold 7 silver 1 bronze
Other GB teams 0 gold 5 silver 1 bronze
GB Total 4 gold 12 silver 2 bronze |
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Lillian biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Board
Photos: http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=7731
'In such a short period she contributed so much to athletics, much more than medal winning and records. Her vivacity and personality mirrored the sport, its fun, the hard work, the failure and the success, perfectly.' (John Rodda, 'The Guardian') |
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