Bertha Crowther

Bertha Crowther had the distinction of being the first British pentathlon champion when she won the inaugural WAAA title in 1949. She retained it the following year, and finished second to Dorothy Odam-Tyler in 1951. Crowther also won the pentathlon silver medal at the 1950 Bruxelles European Championships. Earlier in the year, she won her only other international medal when she also won silver, but this time in the high jump at the British Empire Games in Auckland, second to Odam-Tyler, losing the gold medal on the count-back.

In addition to her two pentathlon titles, Crowther won just one other WAAA title, the 80 metres hurdles in 1946. However, between 1947-51, she had a total of nine other podium finishes in the sprint hurdles, high jump, long jump and pentathlon.

The daughter of a north London wholesale butcher, Crowther was brought up in the shadow of Wembley Stadium, and always dreamt of appearing there in the London Olympics from the moment she finished equal fourth in the high jump at the 1937 WAAAs at the age of 15. The winner that day was the 1936 Olympic champion Dorothy Odam, and that was the start of a rivalry between the two women that would continue throughout Crowther’s athletic career.

Having attended Wembley County School, where she was an outstanding all-round athlete and county hockey player, Crowther later became a physical education teacher at the school before taking up a similar position at Barking Abbey School. In 1950, she worked as an assistant lecturer in the physical education department at Birmingham University and when the WAAA inaugurated their women’s coaching scheme, at Bisham Abbey, Crowther was chosen as an honorary instructor. On moving to Cheshire, she taught at Tarporley Grammar School for six years before taking up a physical education lecturer’s post at Crewe and Alsager College. Crowther was also involved in coaching at her local club, Crewe and Nantwich Athletic Club, and was also later the president of the Cheshire Women’s AAA, and vice-president of the Northern Counties Women’s AAA. In 1970 she was appointed a hockey umpire to a standard that allowed her to officiate in county championship matches. In her spare time, Crowther and her husband enjoyed appearing in local amateur dramatic productions.

Personal Bests: 80H – 12.5 (1948); HJ – 1.60 (1948).