Heather Joy Armitage (later Young, then McClelland; born 17 March 1933) is a British retired sprinter and British record holder for the 100 yards.[3]
 Armitage at the 1956 Olympics | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 March 1933 Colombo, British Ceylon |
| Height | 171 cm (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 64 kg (141 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Sprint |
| Club | Longwood Harriers, Huddersfield |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | 100 m – 11.6 (1956) 200 – 23.79y (1958)[1][2] |
Medal record | |
Biography
editArmitage won her first major title representing Yorkshire in the all England schools 100 yards in 1951 aged 18.[4]
Armitage became the national yards champion after winning the British WAAA Championships title at the 1952 WAAA Championships.[5][6]
Shortly afterwards she represented Great Britain at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki and won a bronze medal in the relay event with Sylvia Cheeseman, Jean Desforges and June Foulds.[7]
At the 1956 Olympic Games, she competed in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4×100 meres events and won a silver medal in the relay with Anne Pashley, June Foulds and Jean Scrivens.[7] Her best individual achievement was sixth place in the 100 metres.[1] Later the same year she married Frank Young and ran under the name Young.
Young became a double British champion after securing the national 100 yards title and the national 220 yards title, winning both events at the 1957 WAAA Championships.[8][9]
One month after retaining her 220 yards national title at the 1958 WAAA Championships, she won three medals at the 1958 Commonwealth Games in Cardiff[1] including as the anchor in the English 4 × 110 yards relay team alongside Madeleine Weston, June Paul and anchor Dorothy Hyman that won the gold medal and set a new world record of 45.37 seconds in the process.[10]
Later that year Young took 100 metres gold at the 1958 European Championships in Athletics in Stockholm, thereby becoming the first British woman to win an individual European track title. As of December 2006, she still holds the official British Record for the 100 yards.[3]
Post athletic career
editShe retired from competitions in 1960 and devoted herself to teaching, mostly on religious topics.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Heather Armitage". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016.
- ^ "Heather Young (née Armitage". trackfield.brinkster.net.
- ^ a b "UK All-Time Lists: Women - Track (60-600)". gbrathletics.com.
- ^ "Heather Armitage - Penistone Grammar School's Olympic Medallist". pgs-archive.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- ^ "Dorothy Tyler changes style and shocks world champion". Sunday Express. 15 June 1952. Retrieved 15 February 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
- ^ a b "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
- ^ "Schoolgirls Jolt Olympic Jump Star". Weekly Dispatch (London). 7 July 1957. Retrieved 19 February 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "AAA Championships (women)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
- ^ "UK Athletics". uka.org. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- ^ Greensill, Martin (May 2007). "An early heroine in a golden age for British women's athletics". Track Stats. NUTS.
External links
edit
- Heather Joy Armitage at World Athletics
- Heather Young (neé Armitage) at Track and Field Statistics
- Heather Joy Armitage at Olympics.com
- Heather Armitage at Olympic.org (archived)
- Heather Armitage at Olympedia
- Heather Armitage at Team GB
- Heather Joy Young at the Commonwealth Games Federation (archived)
