Mary Rand 940840 222157215 2008-06-27T20:54:09Z MG291 2535966 /* Athletics career */ {{MedalTableTop}} {{MedalCountry|{{ENG}} and {{GBR2}}}} {{MedalSport|Women's [[Athletics (track and field)|athletics]]}} {{MedalOlympic}} {{MedalGold| [[Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics|Tokyo 1964]] | [[Long Jump]]}} {{MedalSilver| [[Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics|Tokyo 1964]] | [[Pentathlon]]}} {{MedalBronze| [[Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics|Tokyo 1964]] |[[4 x 100 m relay]]}} {{MedalCommonwealthGames}} {{MedalGold| [[1966 Commonwealth Games|Kingston 1966]]|[[Long Jump]]}} {{MedalSilver| [[1958 Commonwealth Games|Cardiff 1958]]|[[Long Jump]]}} {{MedalEuropeanChampionships}} {{MedalBronze| [[1962 European Championships in Athletics|Belgrade 1962]]|[[Long Jump]]}} {{MedalBronze| [[1962 European Championships in Athletics|Belgrade 1962 ]]|[[4 x 100 m relay]]}} {{MedalBottom}} '''Mary Denise Rand''', [[Member of the Order of the British Empire|MBE]], (née '''Bignal''') (born [[10 February]] [[1940]]) is a former [[England|English]] [[Athletics (track and field)|track-and-field athlete]]. She won the gold medal in the [[long jump]] at the [[1964 Summer Olympics]] by breaking the world record, becoming the first-ever British female to win an Olympic gold medal in a track and field event. ==Early life== She is the daughter of Eric and Hilda Bignal. She was born and grew up in [[Wells]], [[Somerset]], England. At the age of 16, [[Millfield School]] offered her an athletics scholarship. She excelled in all sports and won All-England Schools' titles. She was outstanding at [[high jump]], long jump and [[Hurdling|hurdles]]. In 1956, she was invited as a guest of the Olympic squad at a training camp in [[Brighton]], where she beat Britain's best high jumpers. ==Athletics career== At the age of 17, Rand set a British national record of 4046 points in the pentathlon <ref>[http://web.ukonline.co.uk/m.gratton/Her%20Name%20Was%20Mary/Mary%20-%20Page%203%20-%20athlete.htm Her name was Mary (biography)]</ref>. She won a silver medal in the [[1958 Commonwealth Games]] long jump and came fifth in the high jump. One month later she came seventh in the European [[pentathlon]] championships. In the [[1960 Summer Olympics|1960 Olympics]] in [[Rome]], she set a British record of 6.33m in the qualifying round of the long jump, which if repeated, would have won her a silver in the final. In the final she fouled two of the three jumps and finished ninth. She also finished fourth in the 80m hurdles. She won a bronze medal in the European Championship long jump in 1962. At the [[1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Olympics]] in [[Tokyo]], Rand set an Olympic record in the long jump in the qualifying rounds jumping 6.52m. In the final she beat the favourite [[Tatyana Schelkanova]] of the [[USSR]] and Poland's [[Irena Kirszenstein]]. Her first jump of 6.59m was a British record. However in the fifth round, on a wet runway with a headwind of 1.6 metres per second, she broke the world record, leaping 6.76m to take gold. To add to her gold in the long jump, she won a silver medal in the pentathlon (her total of 5035 points putting her in second place in the all-time rankings). She was beaten to the gold medal by [[Irina Press]], whose gender has long been the subject of speculation. She also won a bronze as a member of the Great Britain team that finished third in the 4x100 metres relay<ref>[http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=1780 Sporting Heroes biography]</ref>. Six days after Mary won the gold medal, her room-mate [[Ann Packer]] won gold in the 800 metres. Ann Packer said: "Mary was the most gifted athlete I ever saw. She was as good as athletes get, there has never been anything like her since. And I don't believe there ever will." Rand was awarded the MBE ([[Member of the Order of the British Empire]]) in the [[Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom|1965 New Year's Honours List]] and voted [[BBC Sports Personality of the Year]] for 1964. After Tokyo, her training was less intensive, but she won a gold medal in the long jump at the [[1966 Commonwealth Games]]. Due to injury, she failed to make the 1968 British Olympic team and decided to retire in September that year. There is a plaque commemorating the world record long jump (6.76 metres) by Rand at the 1964 Olympic Games located in the Market Place in her home town of [[Wells]]. She was succeeded as the Golden Girl of British athletics by her friend and London Olympiades club-mate, [[Lillian Board]]. ==Personal life== She met oarsman Sid Rand in 1961. Three days after meeting she agreed to marry him and they married five weeks later<ref>[http://www.times-olympics.co.uk/historyheroes/stgbo06.html Times OnLine biography]]</ref>. They had a daughter, Alison. The marriage lasted five years. She married her second husband, American [[Bill Toomey]], the 1968 Olympic champion in the decathlon, in December 1969. This marriage lasted 22 years and they had two daughters, Samantha and Sarah. She later married John Reese and she lives with him in [[Atascadero]] in the United States <ref>[http://www.sportinglife.com/olympics/best_of_british/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=others/00/08/22/OLYMPICS_Rand.html Sporting Life biography]</ref>. She is now an American citizen<ref>[http://www.boa.org.uk/documents/The%20Olympian%20Win04.pdf 2004 interview]</ref>. ==References== <div class="references-small"> <references /> </div> ==External links== *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/cta/sport/programmes/sroty/1964_award.ram Grainy video of her receiving BBC Sportsview Personality of the Year Award 1964] {{Footer Olympic Champions Long Jump Women}} <br><br> {{Footer Olympic Champions Great Britain Women}} <br> {{start box}} {{s-ach|rec}} {{succession box|before={{flagicon|USSR}} [[Tatyana Shchelkanova]]|title=[[World record progression long jump|Women's Long Jump World Record Holder]]|years=[[1964-10-14]] &ndash; [[1968-10-14]]|after={{flagicon|ROM}} [[Viorica Viscopoleanu]]}} {{succession box|before={{flagicon|JPN}} [[Rie Yamaguchi]]|title=[[World record progression triple jump|Women's Triple Jump World Record Holder]]</br><small>Not officially ratified by the IAAF</small>|years=[[1959-06-18]] &ndash; [[1981-05-09]]|after={{flagicon|USA}} [[Terri Turner]]}} {{s-awards}} {{succession box|title=[[BBC Sports Personality of the Year]]|before=[[Dorothy Hyman]] |after=[[Tom Simpson]]|years=1964}} {{end box}} {{BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Rand, Mary}} [[Category:1940 births]] [[Category:Old Millfieldians]] [[Category:BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:English athletes]] [[Category:Long jumpers]] [[Category:People from Somerset]] [[Category:Athletes at the 1964 Summer Olympics]] [[Category:Competitors at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games]] [[Category:Commonwealth Games gold medalists for England]] [[Category:Commonwealth Games silver medalists for England]] [[Category:Olympic athletes of Great Britain]] [[de:Mary Rand]] [[fr:Mary Rand]] [[ja:マリー・ランド]] [[no:Mary Rand]] [[pl:Mary Rand]] [[fi:Mary Rand]]