Sheila Lerwill
Olympic medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Women’s Athletics | ||
1952 Helsinki | High jump |
Sheila W. Lerwill (born 16 August 1928) is a British athlete who competed mainly in the high jump. She was born Sheila Alexander in London, marrying Michael H. M. Lerwill in Wandsworth in 1951.[1][2]
Lerwill broke the world record for women's high jump on 7 July 1951 in London with a jump of 1.72 metres, beating the previous record of 1.71 metres set by Fanny Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands on 30 May 1943 in Amsterdam. The record was broken on 22 May 1954 by Aleksandra Chudina of the USSR in Kiev with a jump of 1.73 metres.[3] She competed for Great Britain in the high jump at the 1952 Summer Olympics, held in Helsinki, Finland, where she won the silver medal with a jump of 1.65 metres. It was Britain's best athletics medal at the games.
References
- ^ "Marriage registration". FreeBMD. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ^ "Women's Titles". The Observer. 8 July 1951. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ^ "World Records for High Jump (Women)". World Records. Cleave Books. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
External links
- 1928 births
- Living people
- British female high jumpers
- Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
- Olympic athletes for Great Britain
- European Athletics Championships medalists
- Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics
- Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Commonwealth Games competitors for England
- British athletics Olympic medallist stubs