Maeve Kyle

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexFemale
Full nameMaeve Esther Enid•Kyle (Shankey-)
Used nameMaeve•Kyle
Born6 October 1928 in Kilkenny, Kilkenny (IRL)
Measurements159 cm / 57 kg
AffiliationsBallymena and Antrim AC, Ballymena (GBR)
NOC Ireland

Biography

Maeve Kyle’s pioneering athletics career began at a young age and, during her life, she played nearly every sport available to her. The two sports in which she excelled the most, however, were field hockey and track. In the former, she earned 58 international caps for Ireland during the 1950s. In the latter, she became the nation’s first female track Olympian when she raced the 100 and 200 metres events at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and was eliminated in the opening round. After repeating this performance at the 1960 Rome Games, she switched to the 400 and the 800 for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and survived to the semi-finals. She also competed at these longer distances at the 1962 and 1966 European Championships and, while she did not win a medal at those tournaments, she did take bronze in the 400 metres at the 1966 European Indoor Athletics Championships. She then went on to have a prestigious coaching career, earning numerous awards and distinctions, including an OBE in 2008.

Personal Bests: 100y – 10.8 (1964); 200 – 24.4y (1960); 400 – 54.5 (1964); 800 – 2:10.7y (1962).

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1956 Summer Olympics Athletics IRL Maeve Kyle
100 metres, Women (Olympic) 6 h4 r1/3
200 metres, Women (Olympic) 5 h1 r1/3
1960 Summer Olympics Athletics IRL Maeve Kyle
100 metres, Women (Olympic) 5 h5 r1/4
200 metres, Women (Olympic) 5 h6 r1/3
1964 Summer Olympics Athletics IRL Maeve Kyle
400 metres, Women (Olympic) 7 h2 r2/3
800 metres, Women (Olympic) 8 h2 r2/3

Special Notes