Alice Legh

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Alice Legh (ca.1894)

Alice Blanche Legh ( 1855 - January 3, 1948 ) was a British archer . Sports history writes that she is sometimes referred to as the most outstanding British archer of all time, or, without limitation, as the person who dominated this sport like no other in Great Britain.

Sporting successes

Until well into the 19th century, archery was one of the few sports that British women could practice without breaking social conventions. Dressed according to the notions of propriety, nor did it involve excessive physical exertion, which Victorian medical professionals believed women should not expose themselves to. There was accordingly a very large number of women athletes, far exceeded the number of men practicing the sport in Great Britain. Since the necessary equipment cost between £ 2 and £ 5 in around 1870, the sport was limited to women who came from at least the wealthy middle class. Within this environment, Alice Legh won the British National Women's Championship 23 times from 1881 to 1922.

Legh refused to take part in the relatively young Summer Olympics of 1908 , which took place in London. British women dominated the sport to such an extent that only women athletes from this nation took part in the Olympic National Round. Legh preferred to focus on defending her national championship title, however, as this competition took place a week after the Olympic competition ended. At these championships she not only defended her title against the Olympic champion Queenie Newall , but also defeated her by a wide margin.

Legh won the national championship of women archer eight times between 1902 and 1909. As a rule, she did not take part in international competitions. The only exception seems to have been her participation in a competition in Le Touquet , France, in 1905 .

Legh did not retire from active sport until 1922 at the age of 67. She died on January 3, 1948 in a nursing home in Stroud , Gloucestershire and is buried in Minchinhampton .

literature

Web links

Single receipts

  1. ^ A b Sybil Newall Biography and Olympic Results . In: Sports-Reference.com . USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  2. ^ Bill Mallon, Buchanan, Ian: The 1908 Olympic Games: Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary . McFarland & Company, Jefferson, NC 2000, ISBN 0-7864-0598-8 , p. 42.
  3. ↑ Goodman: How to be a Victorian . P. 338.
  4. ↑ Goodman: How to be a Victorian . P. 339.
  5. ^ A b Jennifer Uglow : The Northeastern Dictionary of Women's Biography , Northeastern University Press, Boston 1999 3 , p. 319, ISBN 1-55553-421-X
personal data
SURNAME Legh, Alice
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Legh, Alice Blanche (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British archer
DATE OF BIRTH 1855
DATE OF DEATH January 3, 1948