Anne O'Brien (athlete)

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Anne O'Brien
O'Brien in 1932
Personal information
BornAugust 22, 1911
Schenectady, New York, U.S.
DiedJuly 30, 2007 (aged 95)
Tustin, California, U.S.
Height168 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight52 kg (115 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)100 m, 80 m hurdles
ClubLos Angeles Athletic Club
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)100 m - 12.4 (1932)
80 mH - 11.8 (1932)[1][2]
Medal record
Representing  United States

Anne Marie Vrana O'Brien (August 22, 1911 – July 30, 2007) was an American sprinter. She represented the United States at the 1928 Summer Olympics in the 100 meters and at the 1936 Summer Olympics in the 80-meter hurdles. In 1932 she equaled the 80-meter hurdles world record, but fell at the Olympic Trials and missed the Olympics.

Biography[edit]

Anne Vrana was born in Schenectady, New York, to a Hungarian immigrant family.[1][3]: 1  The family moved to California when she was young, and she took up running seriously as a student at Fremont High School in Los Angeles, where she was coached by 1924 Olympian Otto Anderson.[4][5][3]: 2  She joined the Pasadena Athletic Club, which had a women's track and field team.[3]: 4  At the 1927 AAU championships, her first significant meet, she placed second in the long jump and ran on the winning 4 × 110 yard relay team; she false started in the 100 meters, which she had considered her best event.[6]: 118, 149  In her early years Vrana copied Charley Paddock's jump finish in her races; she dropped the style later in her career.[3]: 5 

Vrana placed third in the 100 meters at the 1928 United States Olympic Trials, qualifying for the Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.[7]: 69  At the Olympics she placed third in her heat and was eliminated.[1] Vrana married Howard O'Brien, a fellow Fremont High track athlete, in 1930; subsequently, she competed as Anne O'Brien.[6]: 150  O'Brien took up the 80-meter hurdles before the next Olympics, prompted by losses to local rival Evelyn Furtsch in flat races.[3]: 12  In June 1932 she ran the hurdles in 11.8 at a regional tryout meet in Pasadena; the time equaled Marjorie Clark's world record from the previous year.[8]: 282 

O'Brien entered the 1932 Olympic Trials as the national leader in the 80-meter hurdles, ahead of the eventual Olympic top two Babe Didrikson and Evelyne Hall.[7]: 77  In the Trials heats O'Brien fell at the fourth hurdle, failed to finish and was eliminated.[6]: 150 [7]: 77  Due to the cuts and abrasions she received in her fall she was given a tetanus shot, which made her ill; she was forced to withdraw from the semi-finals of her other event, the flat 100 meters.[6]: 150  She was named to the American Olympic team as an alternate in the hurdles, but did not get the opportunity to compete.[6]: 150 

O'Brien gave birth to a daughter in 1934, but continued competing; she won the 80-meter hurdles at the 1936 Trials, qualifying for her second Olympic Games.[6]: 150 [7]: 86  At the Olympics in Berlin she placed second in her heat and fourth in her semi-final; she narrowly missed qualifying for the final.[1][3]: 17 

O'Brien's athletic career tapered off after 1936, though she continued competing in minor meets into her forties.[3]: 21–22  She died in Tustin, California in July 2007, aged 95.[1]

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anne O'Brien (athlete).
  1. ^ a b c d e "Anne Vrana-O'Brien Bio, Stats and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  2. ^ Anne O'Brien (née Vrana). trackfield.brinkster.net
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Hodak, George A. (1987). "An Olympian's Oral History: Anne Vrana O'Brien" (PDF). LA84 Foundation. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  4. ^ "USA Births and Death on this Day at the Olympics". TeamUSA. 30 July 2012. p. 4. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Anne Vrana-O'Brien". www.olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Tricard, Louise Mead (1996-01-01). American Women's Track and Field: A History, 1895 Through 1980, Volume 1. McFarland. ISBN 9780786402199. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d Hymans, Richard (2008). "The History of the United States Olympic Trials – Track & Field" (PDF). USA Track & Field. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  8. ^ Hymans, Richard; Matrahazi, Imre. "IAAF World Records Progression" (PDF) (2015 ed.). International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
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