Jean Charlotte Spencer (later Lang, born 10 June 1940) is a New Zealand Olympic gymnast. Born in the United Kingdom, she now lives in Australia.

Private life

Spencer was born in 1940 in Woodford, now Greater London, Great Britain, but part of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

at the time of her birth. She received her secondary education at Epsom Girls' Grammar School 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, where she was

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...

. She attended

Auckland University College , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

and graduated

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

with Honours in physics in 1964. She later moved to Australia. In 2013, Lang and another Epsom Girls' Grammar School alumna established an annual prize for excellence in physics so that the recipients can enrol at a university to study physics or engineering.

Gymnastics career

Spencer represented her country at the 1964 Summer Olympics in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan, in gymnastics. In the

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

, she came 76th. In the

floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...

, she was 81st. On the

uneven bars The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...

, she came 75th. On the

balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...

, she was 79th. In the Women's individual all-around, she was ranked 78th of 86 competitors. She is listed as New Zealand Olympic competitor number 200. It would be 20 years—1984— before the next New Zealand gymnast, Tanya Moss, would represent the country at another Summer Olympics. Lang was later on the national committee of the Australian Gymnastic Federation. She was the co-ordinator for elite gymnasts in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

for the NSW Gymnastic Association and a judge at gymnastics competitions. She was made a life member of Gymnastics New South Wales in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Jean Living people People from Woodford, London 1940 births Olympic gymnasts of New Zealand Gymnasts at the 1964 Summer Olympics New Zealand female artistic gymnasts People educated at Epsom Girls' Grammar School University of Auckland alumni New Zealand physicists Australian sports executives and administrators 20th-century New Zealand women English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand emigrants to Australia