Barbara Jean Lawton (née Inkpen; 28 October 1949 – 3 September 2021) was a

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete from England, who mainly competed in the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

event during her career.

Athletics career

Inkpen trained at Aldershot, Farnham & District AC and represented Great Britain at two

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

(1968 and 1972). On Saturday 19 April 1969 she took the British record from 5ft 9.25in to 5ft 9.5in at Ewell, Surrey. On Saturday 7 June 1969 she took the British record to 5 ft 10 at the London Southern Women's Championship. Saturday 11 July 1970 she equalled the British record of 5ft 10.5in at White City at the Great Britain v East Germany competition, after it had been taken to that record on 18 June 1969 in Sweden. She represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the high jump event, at the

1974 British Commonwealth Games The 1974 British Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1974 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Christchurch, New Zealand from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The Games were off ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand. She was also runner up in the 1972 Sports Woman Of The Year.

References

External links

* 1949 births 2021 deaths People from Farnham Sportspeople from Surrey British female high jumpers English female high jumpers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games European Athletics Championships medalists Medallists at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games {{England-athletics-bio-stub