Elizabeth Joyce "Joy" Grieveson (born 31 October 1941) from

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, is a retired

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.

Athletics career

She won the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the women's 400 metres at the 1962 European Athletics Championships in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, having taken a week's leave from work to compete. She came in behind

Maria Itkina Maria (also "Mariya" and "Marina") Leontievna Itkina ( be, Марыя Лявонцеўна Іткіна; russian: Мария Леонтьевна Иткина; 3 May 19321 December 2020) was a Soviet runner who set multiple world records in vario ...

of the Soviet Union, and ahead of

Tilly van der Made Tilly van der Zwaard (18 January 1938 – 6 February 2019) was a middle distance runner from the Netherlands. At the 1962 European Athletics Championships in Belgrade she won a bronze medal in the 400 m event, behind Maria Itkina of the Sovi ...

of the Netherlands. 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 ...

in the 220 and 880 yards, at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. She also represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and was one of the favourites, but a hamstring injury hampered her chances and she only reached the semi-final. She retired from athletics after her second Commonwealth Games where she competed in the 440 yards at the 1966 Commonwealth Games.

Personal life

She married

Darlington F.C. Darlington Football Club is an association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League North, at the sixth tier of English football. The club was founded in 1 ...

footballer

Stan Watson Stanley Watson (17 March 1937 – 16 January 2014) was an English footballer who made 27 appearances in the Football League playing as a wing half or centre half for Darlington in the 1950s. He made his debut playing at centre half on 8 February ...

References

1941 births Living people English female sprinters Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Darlington Commonwealth Games competitors for England Olympic female sprinters {{England-athletics-bio-stub