Sheila Carey
{{Short description|British middle-distance runner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
|name = Sheila Carey
née Taylor
|image = Sheila Carey 1970.jpg
|caption = Carey in 1970
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1946|8|12|df=y}}
|birth_place = Coventry, Warwickshire, England
|othername =
|yearsactive =
|spouse = {{marriage|Peter Carey|1968}}
| height = 165 cm
| weight = 54 kg
| country =
| sport = Athletics
| event = 800 m, 1500 m
| pb = 800 m – 2:02.9 (1971)
1500 m – 4:04.81 (1972)[http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=397&Gender=W Sheila Carey (née Taylor)]. trackfield.brinkster.net
| club = Coventry Godiva Harriers
| alma_mater =
| retired =
| olympics =
| highestranking =
| show-medals = yes
| medaltemplates =
}}
Sheila Janet Carey MBE, (née Taylor; born 12 August 1946){{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ta/sheila-taylor-carey-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418041436/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ta/sheila-taylor-carey-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2020 |title=Sheila Taylor|publisher=Sports-reference.com |accessdate=27 December 2011}} is a retired British middle-distance runner who represented the United Kingdom at the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics. In 1968, she placed fourth in the 800 metres, while in 1972, she finishing fifth in the 1500 metres, setting a new British record. She represented England at the Commonwealth Games in 1970 and 1974. She was also part of the British 4×800 metres relay team that twice broke the world record in 1970.
Biography
At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Carey (competing under her maiden name of Taylor) placed fourth in the 800 metres. Taylor married Peter Carey in Coventry during late 1968 and competed under her married name thereafter.{{cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?r=240536687:4893&d=bmd_1740370513 |title=Marriages |website=Free BMD |access-date=6 March 2025 }}
In June 1970, in Edinburgh, the UK 4 × 800 m relay quartet of Rosemary Stirling, Carey, Pat Lowe and Lillian Board, broke the world record with 8:27.0. Carey became the British 800 metres champion after winning the British WAAA Championships title at the 1970 WAAA Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001816/19700621/035/0035 |title=Sheila Romps To Win Over Lillian |work=Birmingham Weekly Mercury |date=21 June 1970 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=6 March 2025 }}{{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=6 March 2025}}
Then in September 1970 at the Crystal Palace, London, the quartet of Stirling, Georgena Craig, Lowe and Carey, improved the record to 8:25.0. In between these performances, Carey competed at the Commonwealth Games in July, held in Edinburgh. She finished eighth in the 800 m final, after a fall.
Carey competed at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, where she came in fifth in the 1500 m, setting a new British record at 4:04.8. This time remained Carey's best and as of 2013, ranked 19th on the UK all-time list. The race was won by Lyudmila Bragina and saw more than five runners beating the pre-Games world record.[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417174056/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1972/ATH/womens-1500-metres.html Athletics at the 1972 München Summer Games: Women's 1,500 metres]. sports-reference.com
Carey continued to represent the UK at international level through 1973 and 1974. She ran her lifetime best for the mile, with 4:37.16 at the Crystal Palace in September 1973, where she finished second behind Joan Allison. She made her final appearance at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand. There she was eliminated in her heat of the 800 m in 2:09.16.{{cite web|url=http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=7910 |title=Sheila Carey |publisher=Sporting-heroes.net |accessdate=27 December 2011}}
After retiring from international athletics Carey later went on to teach in the United Kingdom, working for many years at Exhall Grange School, a school for children with sight loss and other disabilities, near Coventry in 1987.{{cite news|url= http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Plans+laid,+now+we+need+the+money!%3B+NEWSFOCUS%3A+AS+FUND-RAISING+APPEAL...-a060463368|title= Plans laid, now we need the money!|work= Coventry Evening Telegraph|date= 15 March 1999|accessdate= 27 December 2011}} She has been part-time at the school since 2006. Carey runs the U2 Track and Field Club and organises competitions for the sports charity British Blind Sport.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-20858472 |work=BBC News |title=Warwickshire honours: Sports stars among those awarded |publisher=BBC |date=29 December 2012 |accessdate=29 December 2012}} In 2012, she carried the Olympic torch through Warwick as part of the relay ahead of the London Olympic Games.{{cite news |url=http://leamingtonobserver.co.uk/2012/07/05/news-Relay-arrives-in-Warwick-44393.html |title=Relay arrives in Warwick |newspaper=Leamington Observer |date=4 July 2012 |accessdate=29 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712062423/http://leamingtonobserver.co.uk/2012/07/05/news-Relay-arrives-in-Warwick-44393.html |archive-date=12 July 2012 |df=dmy-all }} Her school also did a mini version of the Olympic Games.
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to disability athletics.{{London Gazette |issue=60367 |date=29 December 2012 |page=15 |supp=y }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Sheila Carey}}
- [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=7910 Sheila Carey] at sporting-heroes.net
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carey, Sheila}}
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 1968 Summer Olympics
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Category:Commonwealth Games competitors for England
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games
Category:World record setters in athletics (track and field)
Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire