Heather Joy Armitage (later ''Young'', then ''McClelland;'' born 17 March 1933) is a British retired sprinter and British record holder for the 100 yards.

Sporting career

Armitage won her first major title representing Yorkshire in the all England schools 100 yards in 1951 aged 18. She competed in the 1952 and 1956 Olympics in the 100 m, 200 m and 4×100 m events and won two medals in the relay. Her best individual achievement was sixth place in the 100 m in 1956. In 1958, she won three medals at the

1958 Commonwealth Games The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18–26 July 1958. Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,130 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

including as the anchor in the English 4 × 110 yards relay team alongside Madeleine Weston, June Paul and anchor

Dorothy Hyman Dorothy Hyman (born 9 May 1941) is a retired English sprinter. She competed at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics in the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m events, winning three medals. She also won individual 100 m gold and 200 m silver at the 1962 ...

that won the gold medal and set a new world record of 45.37 seconds in the process. Later that year Armitage took 100 m gold at the 1958 European Championships in Athletics in Stockholm, thereby becoming the first British woman to win an individual European track title. As of August 2017, she still hold the official British Record for the 100 yards.

Personal life

In the 1950s she married Frank Young, a fellow teacher, and competed as Heather Young. They later divorced, with Armitage marrying the former association football player John McClelland with whom she has a daughter, Alison.

Post athletic career

She retired from competitions in 1960 and devoted herself to teaching, mostly on religious topics.

References

External links

* * * * 1933 births Living people English female sprinters English Olympic medallists Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Great Britain People educated at Penistone Grammar School Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England European Athletics Championships medalists Sportspeople from Colombo People from British Ceylon Athletes from Yorkshire Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games {{England-athletics-bio-stub