Leonard Chalmers (formerly Lillian Florence Elizabeth Chalmers; 5 December 1911 – 24 February 1990) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

who competed in the

1934 British Empire Games The 1934 British Empire Games were the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events wer ...

. At the 1934 Empire Games he won the bronze medal in the 100 yards event. He also competed in the

1938 European Championships in Athletics The 2nd European Athletics Championships was a continental athletics competition for European athletes which was held in two places in 1938. The men's event took place in Paris, France between 3–5 September while the women's events were in Vien ...

held in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and finished sixth in the 200 metre event. Chalmers was also entered into the 4x100 relay at the

1936 Berlin Games The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

but did not compete, as well as becoming a three-time champion at the Women's

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...

, winning the 200 meters in 1937 and 1939 and the 400 meters in 1939. He finally raced in the 1939 ISTAF Berlin meeting at Berlin Stadium, only a few weeks before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

started. Chalmers worked as a machinist in a

cardboard box Cardboard boxes are industrially prefabricated boxes, primarily used for packaging goods and materials. Specialists in industry seldom use the term cardboard because it does not denote a specific material. The term ''cardboard'' may refer to a va ...

factory before his athletic career, and was the youngest of five children. His eldest sibling died during the Gallipoli Campaign during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Chalmers lived in the Rudmore district of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

before World War II, but later moved to live near

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

. Around 1961, Chalmers underwent

gender reassignment Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures us ...

as a

trans man A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. The label of transgender man is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual man, although the two labels are often used in this way. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term that incl ...

, going by the name Leonard Chalmers. He died from the effects of a stroke in early 1990 at the age of 78.

References

External links

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at ''TOPS in athletics'' 1911 births 1990 deaths English female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1934 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Transgender sportsmen Medallists at the 1934 British Empire Games English transgender men {{England-athletics-bio-stub