Mary Rand obituary

The first British woman to win an Olympic athletics gold medal with her long jump victory at the 1964 Tokyo Games

One of the true “golden girls” of the swinging 60s, Mary Rand, who has died aged 86, emerged as the brightest British sporting star of her era when she became her nation’s first female gold medallist in Olympic athletics, taking long jump victory with a world record leap in the Tokyo games of 1964. She also won silver in the pentathlon and bronze in the sprint relay at the event, making her the first British athlete to have claimed three medals in one Olympic Games.

Her life was transformed after she broke the previous record on a wet day with a leap of 6.76 metres. On a cinder track, running into a headwind, her performance was spectacular. Always photogenic, Rand’s face became one of the most instantly recognisable as her every move was celebrated in newspapers and on television. Almost inevitably, she was named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 1964 and was made MBE 12 months later. Famously, the Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger named her as the woman he would most like to take on a date.

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