Beverly Dawn Edith Weigel (born 16 August 1940), with her first name commonly misspelled as Beverley and since her marriage known as Beverly Robertson, is a New Zealand athlete. Mainly active as a long jumper, but also as a sprinter, she represented her country at the 1956 Summer Olympics, the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, and the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

Life

Weigel was born in 1940 in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand. She received her education at Kelston High School (now Kelston Girls' College, but

co-ed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

at the time). Described as a "phenomenal athlete", she won the New Zealand senior women's long jump title at age 15. This secured her a place on the New Zealand Olympic team for the 1956 Summer Olympics in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, and she is listed as New Zealand Olympian number 126. Of the nine track and field athletes who represented the country, she was the youngest at age 16. She competed in

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

and of 19 competitors, she came 7th. In 1957, she set a world junior record with a long jump of in

– a distance that would have won her a silver medal at the 1956 Olympics. At the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, Weigel competed in three events. In the women's long jump, she placed eights. In the 100 yards women's race, she was eliminated in the heats. With

Mary Donaghy Jessie Mary Hayward (née Donaghy, born 7 December 1939) is a former New Zealand high jumper and long jumper. She represented her country at the 1956 Summer Olympics and 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, winning a silver medal in the ...

, Margaret Stuart, and

Marise Chamberlain Marise Ann Millicent Chamberlain (born 5 December 1935) is a New Zealand former middle-distance runner. She is the only New Zealand woman to win an Olympic medal in track athletics ( Lorraine Moller won a medal in the marathon). She set world ...

, she competed in the 4x110 yards relay and they came 4th. At the

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy, she was one of New Zealand's fourteen track and field athletes. Again competing in the

, she came 10th from 30 competitors. On 9 February 1957 Beverly beat the 1949 Junior World Best by 11 cm at a meet in Papakura. She was also only 12 cm under the Women's Open World Record. This performance was never officially recognised as a record.

References

External links

Team photo
of the New Zealand athletes at the 1956 Summer Olympics {{DEFAULTSORT:Weigel, Beverly Living people 1940 births People educated at Kelston Girls' College Olympic athletes for New Zealand Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand Athletes from Auckland New Zealand female sprinters New Zealand female long jumpers