Heather Armitage

Heather Armitage

Armitage (right) at the 1956 Olympics
Personal information
Born	17 March 1933 (age 82) Colombo, Sri Lanka
Height	171 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	64 kg (141 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Sprint
Club	Longwood Harriers, Huddersfield
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 m – 11.6 (1956) 200 – 23.79y (1958)[1][2]
Medal record Competitor for  Great Britain Olympic Games Melbourne 1956 4×100 m relay Helsinki 1952 4×100 m relay European Championships Stockholm 1958 100 m Commonwealth Games Vancouver 1954 4×100 yd relay Cardiff 1958 4×100 yd relay Cardiff 1958 100 yd Cardiff 1958 220 yd

Heather Joy Armitage (later Young, then McClelland; born 17 March 1933) is a retired British sprinter. She competed in the 1952 and 1956 Olympics in the 100 m, 200 m and 4×100 m events and won two medals in the relay. Her best individual achievement was sixth place in the 100 m in 1956.^[1] In 1958, she won three medals at the 1958 Commonwealth Games in Cardiff^[1] and then took 100 m gold at the 1958 European Championships in Athletics in Stockholm, thereby becoming the first British woman to win an individual European track title.

In the 1950s she married Frank Young, a fellow teacher, and competed as Heather Young. They had a daughter Alison, but later divorced, with Armitage marrying the former association football player John McClelland. She retired from competitions in 1960 and devoted herself to teaching, mostly on religious topics.^[3]

References

1. Heather Armitage. sports-reference.com
2. Heather Young (neé Armitage). trackfield.brinkster.net
3. Greensill, Martin (May 2007). "An early heroine in a golden age for British women’s athletics". Track Stats. NUTS.