Marilyn Fay Neufville (born 16 November 1952) is a retired sprint runner who was active between 1967 and 1971. Neufville broke the world record in the 400 m and won four gold medals and one bronze in various regional championships. Born in Jamaica, she emigrated at eight years old to Great Britain.

British years

Marilyn gained three Women's AAA titles as a junior in the 100 yds and 150 yds in the under 15s category in 1967 and won the 220 yds in the under 17 category in 1968. In 1969, she was second at the Women's AAA Championships behind

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 ...

in the 200 m, where she ran 24.3 seconds. Marilyn first appeared on the international scene in September 1969, when she ran the 4 × 400 m in a

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 i ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

match in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. In March 1970, she competed for Great Britain in the

European Indoor Athletics Championships The European Athletics Indoor Championships is a biennial indoor track and field competition for European athletes that is organised by the European Athletic Association. It was held for the first time in 1970, replacing the European Indoor Games ...

and won gold over 400 m in 53.01, breaking her outdoor PB of 54.2 and the world indoor record, as well as the UK National Junior Indoor Record which stood until February 2019 when Amber Anning ran 53.00 dead. Later in 1970, she won the WAAA outdoor title at the same distance in 52.6.

Jamaican years

In the summer, before the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Marilyn chose to represent her country of birth, Jamaica over her country of residence. This caused wide controversy with many members of the British public saying she had betrayed where she was trained and considered her switch like treason. At the Commonwealth Games Neufville established a new world record by improving the preceding mark previously held by the Frenchwomen

Colette Besson Colette Besson (7 April 1946 – 9 August 2005) was a French athlete, the surprise winner of the 400 m at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Athletic career Prior to the 1968 Olympics, Besson, an unknown physical education teacher, qualifi ...

and Nicole Duclos with 51.0 (electronically timed as 51.02) at the age of 17. This made her the first and so far only Jamaican female athlete to break an outdoor world record. In 1970, she gained more recognition at ISTAF athletics meet in Berlin then at the

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championships running 52.6 in front of Germany's Christel Frese and Inge Eckhoff. In 1971, in the indoor AAA championships, Marilyn was beaten by Jannette Champion which reversed the result of the previous year. The same year, in the Pan-American Championships in Cali, she gained her third gold medal and bronze in the 4 × 400 m. At the 1971 Central American and Caribbean Championships she won a fourth gold medal. Her successes earned her two Jamaica Sportswoman of the year awards in 1970 and 1971. In 1972, she enrolled at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. She is still ranked number 3 on the school's all-time list. After battling with injuries Marilyn returned at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games but was a shadow of her former self only finishing sixth in the 400 m final. In the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

Neufville made her Olympic debut finishing fourth in her heat but had to pull out of her round 2 heat through injury.

Trivia

*Despite being World Record Holder and Commonwealth champion when she was 17 she did not make her Olympic debut until she was 24. *She was a member of Cambridge Harriers and as of May 2021, still holds that club's U20 400m record of 51s set at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh on 23 Jul 1970.

Honours

European Athletics Indoor Championships

1970 European Athletics Indoor Championships in

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

*Gold medal 400 m

British Commonwealth Games

1970 British Commonwealth Games in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

*Gold medal 400 m *5th place 4 × 100 m 1974 British Commonwealth Games in

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 Rive ...

, New Zealand *6th in the 400 m

Pan-American Games

1971 Pan American Games * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

Cali, Colombia Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

*Gold medal 400 m *Bronze medal 4 × 400 m

Central American and Caribbean Championships

1971 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics in Kingston, Jamaica *Gold Medal 400 m

World records

*The 400 m world record of 51.02 on 23 July 1970 in Edinburgh (improvement of the world record set by Colette Besson and Nicole Duclos), was equalled by Monika Zehrt and Mona-Lisa Pursiainen then beaten by

Irena Szewińska Irena Szewińska (née Kirszenstein; Polish pronunciation: ; 24 May 1946 – 29 June 2018) was a Polish sprinter who was one of the world's foremost athletes for nearly two decades, in multiple events. She is the only athlete in history, m ...

in 1974. *400 m world indoor record in 53.01 in March 1971 in Vienna broken by Nadezhda Ilyina in 1974.

References

External links

Marilyn Neufville on Sporting Heroes
* Commonwealth Games 1970 Women's 400m
Olympic Results
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neufville, Marilyn 1952 births Living people British female sprinters Jamaican female sprinters Olympic athletes of Jamaica California Golden Bears women's track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1971 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Jamaica Pan American Games gold medalists for Jamaica Pan American Games bronze medalists for Jamaica Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) World record setters in athletics (track and field) People from Portland Parish Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom Medalists at the 1971 Pan American Games Olympic female sprinters