Anita Neil

Anita Neil had the distinction of being the first black woman to represent Great Britain at the Olympics, but it was more than 50 years after her Olympic début that her role as a pioneer for black female athletes was recognised by the British Olympic Association (BOA).

Hailing from Northamptonshire, Neil started running at primary school, but took up long jumping at secondary school, and as a a 14-year-old won the English Schools’ title. She followed that by winning the women’s AAA junior under-17 title in 1965 and 1966, and in the second of those years made her Great Britain début when, as a replacement for the injured Mary Rand, she finished second in the international against France at Lille.

After switching back to the track, Neil soon rose to prominence and won the first of five successive Midlands sprint titles in 1967, when she also finished second to Barbara Inkpen in the WAAA Indoor long jump. Neil finished second in the WAAA 100 metres in 1968 and went to the Mexico Olympics where she reached the 100 m quarter-final and was in the GB squad that reached the 4x100 relay final. The month before the Games, during an international match at Portsmouth, Neil, along with Maureen Tranter, Janet Simpson, and Lillian Board had set a world 4x110 yards relay record of 45.0.

At the 1969 European Athletics Championships at Athens, Neil won a bronze medal in both the 100 metres and 4x100 relay, and at the British Commonwealth Games at Edinburgh in 1970 went one better and won silver with the England relay squad. That year, she won her only senior outdoor WAAA title when she captured the 100 metres.

After a second Olympic appearance at München in 1972, Neil announced her premature retirement from the international arena at the age of 23. The financial restrictions on her meant she had to work full-time to help support her family and she left the sport disappointed that she could not fulfil her ambitions. She was also bitterly disappointed at not being invited to carry the Olympic torch when it passed through her hometown in 2012. She was delighted, however, when her achievement of being Britain’s first black Olympian was eventually recognised by the BOA – nearly 50 years after her second Olympic appearance in 1972.

Personal Best: 100 – 11.3 (1971).