Anne Smith (runner)

{{Infobox sportsperson

| headercolor =

| name = Anne Smith

| image = File:Women 800 m final 1964 Olympics 1964b.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Anne Smith (#56, at left) during the final of the 800m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, which was won by Ann Packer.

| nationality = British (English)

| birth_date = 1 August 1941

| birth_place = Amersham, England

| death_date = 9 November 1993 (aged 52)

| death_place = London, England

| sport = Athletics

| event = Sprint/middle distance

| height = 170 cm

| weight = 66 kg

| club = Mitcham AC

| pb =

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{ENG}} }}

}}

Anne Rosemary Smith (31{{nbsp}}August 1941{{snd}}9{{nbsp}}November 1993) was a sprinter and middle distance runner, who specialised in the 1500 metres and mile events. She represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. In 1967, Smith broke two world records in one race, running 4:17.3 for the 1500 metres and 4:37.0 for the mile. These were the first 1500 m and mile world records to be ratified by the IAAF.

Biography

Smith was born in Amersham, England. She was coached by Frank Mitchell and Gordon Pirie, Pirie had won silver in the 5000m at the Olympics in Melbourne in 1956 but Anne Smith's preferred distance, 1500m, did not become part of the Olympic Games programme for women until 1972.

She had begun running as a 17-year-old and finished third behind Phyllis Perkins in the 880 yards event at the 1963 WAAA Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002137/19630707/286/0030 |title=Dorothy's Dinner Double |work=Sunday Mirror |date=7 July 1963 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=27 February 2025 }} Smith then became the national 880 yards champion after winning the British WAAA Championships title at the 1964 WAAA Championships{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004941/19640705/703/0029 |title=Little Daphne Zips to Records |work=Sunday Express |date=5 July 1964 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=28 February 2025 }} and would win three more times in 1965, 1966{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004941/19660703/799/0027 |title=Fleet-footed Anne has that gold-medal look |work=Sunday Express |date=3 July 1966 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=1 March 2025 }} and 1967.{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=27 February 2025}}{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=27 February 2025 }}

At the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, she reached the final of the 800 metres (women were not permitted to run any distance longer than 800 m at the time). She set a British record of 2:04.8 in the semi-final. In the final, she finished eighth in 2:05.1, the race was won by her teammate Ann Packer who recorded a world record of 2:01.1, second was France's Maryvonne Dupureur (2:01.9) and third was Marise Chamberlain of New Zealand (2:02.8).

In 1966, she won a bronze medal for England in the 880 yards at the Commonwealth Games in Kingston, she ran 2:05.0. The winner was Abby Hoffman of Canada (2:04.2), with Australia's Judy Pollock second (2:04.5).{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/kingston-1966/athletes|title=1966 Athletes|publisher=Team England}}{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/kingston-1966|title=Kingston, Jamaica, 1966 Team|publisher=Team England}}{{cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/40981|title=Athletes and results|publisher=Commonwealth Games Federation}}

Having set a British women’s mile record of 4:44.2 in 1966, Smith set a world record for the mile in May 1967, improving Marise Chamberlain's four-and-a-half-year-old mark of 4:41.4, when she ran 4:39.2 to win the Surrey Championship at Wimbledon Park on 13 May, also setting a British record of 4:21.0 for the 1500 metres en route.

On 3 June 1967, in Chiswick, London, Smith broke two world records in one race, these times of 4:17.3 (1500m) and 4:37.0 (mile) were the first records to be officially ratified by the IAAF.

Smith worked as a PE teacher at Sacred Heart High School, Hammersmith, Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, and Baradene College in Auckland. She died in London on 9 November 1993, aged 52, following a brain haemorrhage.

Achievements

International Championships:

1964: 8th 800 m Olympics

1966: 3rd 880y Commonwealth Games

1968: 4th International CC

1971: 45th International CC (for New Zealand)

UK Internationals: 12 (1963-6)

National Championships: Won WAAA 880y 1964-7.

Personal bests: 440y 56.0 (1967), 800m 2:03.2 (1966), 1500m 4:17.3 (1967), mile 4:37.0 (1967).

References

[http://www.olympics.org.uk/athleterecord.aspx?at=2839 British Olympic Association Biog]
{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20121209132317/http://athletix.org/?p=879 World record progression at athletix.org]}}

{{s-ttl | title = Women's 1500 m world record holder|years=3 June 1967 – 24 October 1967}}

{{s-ttl | title = Women's mile world record holder|years = 13 May 1967 – 14 June 1969}}

Category:1941 births

Category:1993 deaths

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics

Category:English female middle-distance runners

Category:British female middle-distance runners

Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games

Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England

Category:Sportspeople from Amersham

Category:Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Category:20th-century English sportswomen

Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics