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Ann Packer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
Competitor for  United Kingdom |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's athletics | |||
| Silver | 1964 Tokyo | 400 m | |
| Gold | 1964 Tokyo | 800 m | |
Ann Elizabeth Packer (born 8 March 1942) is a former British sprinter, hurdler and long-jumper. She won a gold medal in the 800 metres at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Packer travelled to Tokyo in 1964 hoping to win her favourite event, the 400 metres, but was beaten into second place by Betty Cuthbert of Australia, despite setting a new European record (52.2). She shared a room with Long Jump gold medallist Mary Rand. Disappointed, she turned to the 800 metres, an event which she had only raced in five times before. In her heat and semi-final Packer finished fifth and third, running 2:12.6 and 2:06.0 respectively, being beaten by Frenchwoman Maryvonne Dupureur clocking 2:04.5 and 2:04.5.
She thus started the final the slowest of the eight contestants, having ran the distance that number of times. Packer was sixth at 400 metres, lying behind Dupureur, she was third at 600 m and took the lead in the final straight, using her sprinting speed to take the gold.
It would be another forty years before another British woman, Kelly Holmes would win the 800 metres despite the event being very successful for Britain's men.
Her fiancé, Robbie Brightwell, also competed at the Tokyo Olympics, taking a silver medal in the 4 x 400 m relay. They later married and had three sons, two of whom, Ian and David, achieved fame as footballers with Manchester City.
| Olympic champions in women's 800 m |
|---|
|
1928: Lina Radke | 1960: Lyudmila Shevtsova | 1964: Ann Packer | 1968: Madeline Manning | 1972: Hildegard Falck | 1976: Tatyana Kazankina | 1980: Nadezhda Olizarenko | 1984: Doina Melinte | 1988: Sigrun Wodars | 1992: Ellen van Langen | 1996: Svetlana Masterkova | 2000: Maria Mutola | 2004: Kelly Holmes |
| British Olympic champions in women's athletics |
|---|
| 1964: Mary Rand (long jump) | 1964: Ann Packer (800 m) | 1972: Mary Peters (pentathlon) | 1984: Tessa Sanderson (javelin) | 1992: Sally Gunnell (400 m hurdles) | 2000: Denise Lewis (heptathlon) | 2004: Kelly Holmes (800 m & 1500 m) |