Mary Rand, first British woman to win Olympic athletics gold dies aged 86

Mary Rand, the first British woman to win an Olympic track-and-field gold medal, has died aged 86.

Rand claimed the long jump title in Tokyo in 1964, breaking the British and Olympic records with her first attempt at 6.59 metres and in her final effort smashing the world record with a leap of 6.76m.

She also won silver in the inaugural women’s pentathlon and bronze as a member of the 4x100m relay team in Japan, becoming the first British woman to win gold, silver and bronze at a single Olympic Games.

In a post on X, UK Athletics said: “UK Athletics is saddened to hear of the death of Olympic, European and Commonwealth champion Mary Rand, at the age of 86.

“She became the first British woman to win three medals at a single Olympic Games at Tokyo 1964 and blazed a trail for women in the sport.”

Rand, whose first husband was British rower Sydney – with the couple having a daughter, Allison, who was two years old at the time of her Olympic triumph – went on to win long jump gold at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Jamaica.

Injury, though, ended her Olympic title defence and she failed to make the squad in 1968, retiring in September of that year, aged just 28.

In 1969, Rand married her second husband, American Bill Toomey, the 1968 Olympic decathlon champion and emigrated to the United States. They were together 22 years, having two daughters, Samantha and Sarah.

Rand later married John Reese and continued living in the US, with a home in California and then moving to Nevada.