Mary Rand, the first British woman to secure an Olympic track-and-field gold medal, has died at the age of 86. Rand captured the long jump title in Tokyo in 1964, shattering the British and Olympic records with her opening attempt of 6.59 metres and proceeding to break the world record with a jump of 6.76m.
She also claimed silver in the inaugural women’s pentathlon and bronze as part of the 4x100m relay squad in Japan, becoming the first British woman to secure three medals at a single Olympic Games. In a post on X, UK Athletics said they were « saddened to hear of the death of Olympic, European and Commonwealth champion Mary Rand, at the age of 86 ».
UK Athletics added: « She became the first British woman to win three medals at a single Olympic Games at Tokyo 1964 and blazed a trail for women in the sport. »
Rand, whose first husband was British rower Sydney – with the pair having a daughter, Alison, who was two years old at the time of her Olympic triumph – proceeded to claim long jump gold at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Jamaica.
Injury, however, prevented her Olympic title defence and she failed to make the squad in 1968, retiring in September of that year, aged just 28.
Rand was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1964 and was made an MBE in the 1965 New Year Honours.
Throughout her career, she secured 12 national titles across long jump, high jump, sprint hurdles and pentathlon. Ann Packer, who claimed Olympic 800m gold in 1964 and shared a room with Rand in Tokyo, hailed her as « the most gifted athlete I ever saw ».
In 1969, Rand wed her second husband, American Bill Toomey, the 1968 Olympic decathlon champion, and relocated to the United States. The couple remained together for 22 years, raising two daughters, Samantha and Sarah.
Rand subsequently married John Reese and continued to make her life in the US, initially settling in California before later moving to Nevada.
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