Several of the Team GB ladies who will participate in the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics know all about what it takes to win a gold medal.
Rebecca Adlington and Victoria Pendleton have both stood on top of an Olympic podium as the National Anthem is played and both figure on this list of 10 greatest female British Olympians.
It’s a list which might look a little different once the London Games come to a close on 12th August 2012!
1. Mary Rand
At the 1964 Games in Tokyo, Rand broke the British long-jump record with her first jump and then shattered the world record to scoop gold. By beating the Russian competitor who was favourite to win the event she became the first-ever British lady to earn a gold medal in a track and field event. She would not be the last…
2. Ann Packer
Mary’s triumph inspired her room mate to run the race of her life in the 800 metres event less than a week later. Ann Packer had hoped to win her favourite event, the 400m, but after being beaten into second place she turned her attention to the 800m. Despite being the slowest of the eight qualifiers lining up for the final, she stormed to victory by almost breaking the two-minute time barrier. Did you know that two of Ann’s sons, Ian and David, later went on to play for Manchester City?
3. Mary Peters
British athlete Mary Peters was 33 by the time of the 1972 Munich Olympics and knew that the Games offered her last realistic chance of winning a gold medal. To make matters even harder she was lining up against home favourite Heide Rosendahl. After two days of gripping competition, Peters emerged triumphant and the sporting Rosendahl was the first person to embrace and congratulate her.
4. Sally Gunnell
Sally Gunnell might just have emulated Mary Peters’ pentathlon success – the Chigwell-born athlete started out as a pentathlete at Essex Ladies Club.
However, she will have no regrets about switching to the 400m hurdles as she raced to gold in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Sadly, Sally’s defence of her title was less happy – she pulled up short in an Olympic heat in Atlanta on her 30th birthday.
5. Kelly Holmes
Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett never achieved the glory of winning the 800m and 1500m Olympic titles but Kelly Holmes has. She achieved this amazing double at the Athens games of 2008.
No British female athlete has ever run faster than Holmes has over over the 600, 800, 1000 and 1500 metres distances.
6. Rebecca Adlington
Rebecca Adlington is another Great British athlete to have struck double gold at an Olympic Games – triumphing in the 400m and 800m races. Amazingly, her winning time in the 400m final was actually slower than her time in one of the heats.
The swimmer initially struggled with the expectation of being an Olympic champion but there are thrilling signs that she will be back to her best when London 2012 comes around – as her victory in the 2011 World Championships 800m proved.
7. Denise Lewis
Mary Peters won her gold medal by competing over five events, 18 years later Denise Lewis won her gold by contesting seven events.
The heptathlete’s victory was not an easy won; she ended day one of the competition in third place and ran the final event, the 800m, with heavy strapping on her leg. Just as was the case with Peters, there was an anxious wait at trackside after she crossed the finishing line before she learned that she had won gold.
8. Victoria Pendleton
Sporting talent clearly runs in the Pendleton family. Victoria’s father, Max, was a national grass-track cycling champion and his daughter achieved even greater glory by winning Olympic Gold in the individual sprint competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
9. Fatima Whitbread
This popular javelin-thrower is the only person on this list not to have struck Olympic Gold but as she twice achieved a podium finish she has to make the list.
After winning a bronze medal in the 1984 Games she went one better four years’ later at Seoul.
10. Tessa Sanderson
Fatima Whitbread is Great Britain’s most famous female javelin thrower but Tessa Sanderson is the most successful one. Tessa might never have appeared on I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here but she is, unlike her rival, the owner of an Olympic gold medal – a prize she picked up at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Even more incredibly, she represented Great Britain at six consecutive Olympic Games from 1976 to 1996.
Sir Steve Redgrave only competed at five consecutive Olympic Games!
James Christie writes for kids craft company Yellow Moon. Check out Yellow Moon’s fantastic range of sports craft.
