Mary Rand, first British woman to win Olympic athletics gold, dies aged 86
.jpg)
Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 28.03.26. | 14:22
She was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1964 and received an MBE in the 1965 New Year Honours list
Mary Rand, the British track and field athlete who blazed a trail for women by winning three Olympic medals at the Tokyo Games in 1964, has died at the age of 86.
Rand was one of the giants of her sport: the epitome of speed, power and grace. She was the first British woman to win three medals at a single Olympic Games.
Download our Mozzart Sport app for more news
Her long jump victory in Tokyo made her Britain’s first female Olympic gold medalist in athletics, and she followed it up with a silver in the pentathlon and a bronze in the 4x100m relay.
She secured that Olympic title in style, leaping 6.76m; a mark that would remain the world record for four years. To put that distance into context, it was only four centimetres shy of the distance required for bronze at the 2026 World Indoor Championships.
Team GB is saddened to hear of the death of Olympic champion Mary Rand.
— Team GB (@TeamGB) March 27, 2026
Rand made history at the Tokyo 1964 Olympics, where she became the first British woman to win three medals at one Games.
Rand broke the world record as she won long jump gold, alongside pentathlon silver… pic.twitter.com/naDxfUMud3
That supreme talent was also fused with 60s style. She was famously called “Marilyn Monroe on spikes” by one journalist, because of her blonde highlights, while Mick Jagger declared her to be his dream date.
Rand was born in Somerset in England on 10 February 1940 and demonstrated her sporting talent while at school.
She set her first British record in the pentathlon at the age of 17 and claimed long jump silver when making her major championships debut at the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff.
She made her Olympic debut in Rome in 1960, before becoming a multiple Olympic medalist in Tokyo four years later.
As well as those three Olympic medals, she claimed bronze in both the long jump and the 4x100m at the European Championships in Belgrade in 1962 and became the Commonwealth Games long jump champion in Kingston in 1966.
Rand won a total of 12 national titles across the long jump, high jump, hurdles and pentathlon during her career. She was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1964 and received an MBE in the 1965 New Year Honours list.