Rosemary Stirling

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Rosemary Stirling ( Rosemary Olivia Stirling , after marriage to Wright ; born December 11, 1947 in Timaru , New Zealand ) is a former British sprinter and middle-distance runner .

Born in New Zealand to a Scottish daughter, she moved with her family to Wolverhampton in the early 1960s , where she joined the Wolverhampton Harriers . At the age of 16 she was one of the best British runners over 800 meters . At the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston in 1966 , she finished fourth in the Scottish national jersey over 440 yards and 880 yards.

In 1969 she won bronze at the European Indoor Games in Belgrade over 400 meters behind Colette Besson and Christel Frese . In the open air she was eighth over 400 meters at the European Championships in Athens . French Nicole Duclos won the race ahead of her compatriot Colette Besson; both ran world records in 51.7 s. Four days after the 400-meter final, the final with the 4-by-400-meter relay was on the program. Rosemary Stirling took the lead for the British relay, Nicole Duclos moved up in second place in front of Pat Lowe , Janet Simpson caught up, and the final runners Lillian Board and Colette Besson fought a tough battle to the finish. Both relays ran world records in 3: 30.8 minutes, with the British winning gold ahead of the French.

The high point of the 1970 open-air season was the British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh , where Stirling, who lives in England, represented the host Scots. She won the 800-meter run in 2: 06.24 minutes with three hundredths of a second ahead of the Englishwoman Pat Lowe, her comrade from the British relay.

At the European Indoor Championships in Sofia in 1971 , she won over 800 meters bronze behind Hildegard Falck and Ileana Silai . In the same year she received bronze at the European Championships in Helsinki . After Hildegard Falck fell, Vera Nikolić won ahead of Lowe and Stirling, who crossed the finish line after 2: 02.1 minutes. In the relay, Lowe and Stirling took fourth place in the race in which they were replaced as world record holders by the runners from the GDR.

At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich , Stirling ran the 800 meters in 2: 00.15 minutes, the fastest time of her career and thus finished seventh. With the season she also ran in the final and reached fifth place. In 1974 the four-by-400-meter relay for women was on the program for the first time at the British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch . Rosemary Wright, as she was now called after her marriage to the marathon runner Trevor Wright , took fourth place with the Scottish relay. One month after the games in Christchurch, she was in a grand final at the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg for the last time and reached fourth place over 800 meters.

Rosemary Stirling is 1.57 m tall and weighed 51 kg during her active days. Her British 800 meter record from 1971 lasted until 1979 when Christina Boxer beat it.

Personal bests

  • 400 m: 53.24 s, 28 August 1971, London
  • 800 m: 2:00, 15 min, September 3, 1972, Munich
  • 1000 m : 2: 41.61 min, September 13, 1974, London

literature

  • Bob Phillips: Honor of Empire, Glory of Sport. The History of Athletics at The Commonwealth Games. Parrs Wood Press, Manchester 2000, ISBN 1-903158-09-5 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Stirling, Rosemary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wright, Rosemary; Wright, Rosemary Olivia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British athlete
DATE OF BIRTH December 11, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Timaru