Dame Mary Alison Glen-Haig, (née James; 12 July 1918 – 15 November 2014) was a British fencer who competed in four Olympic games in 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960. She was born in London, the daughter of William James, a fencer at the 1908 London Olympics. She began competing professionally in 1937 and continued until 1960, during which time she won two gold medals at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and competed in four Olympics in the women's individual foil events. She was one of the first female members of the International Olympic Committee in 1982 and was created a dame in 1993. After London's successful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics in 2005, she was active as the host nation's ambassador to the games.

Early life

Glen-Haig was born Mary Alison James on 12 July 1918 in London. Her father, William James, was a competitor in fencing at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. Her brother and sister took up tennis, like their mother. Her interest in fencing arose from time spent with her father, and she often trained and practised with him. She began participating in regional and world championships in 1937 and continued to be active in these tournaments until 1959. She first qualified for the Olympic Games in 1948, the second time that they were held in her hometown of London. The evening before she was to participate in these games, she was still working at

King's College Hospital King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed b ...

, as there was no true

Olympic Village An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Afte ...

at these games.

Olympic and Commonwealth career

The night before she was due to compete, Glen-Haig slept on a camp bed in a room with two other women. In the Women's Foil, Individual competition, she reached the finals, but did not medal, placing 8th. She competed in the same event in at the

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

and

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

, as well as in the Women's Foil, Team in 1960, but never again reached the finals. She claimed to have never worried whether or not she actually won a medal. During this time, she participated in the British Empire Games (later the

) from 1950 to 1958. She won gold medals in the fencing competition in both 1950 and 1954 and 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 ...

and won a bronze medal in the individual foil at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in

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 ...

, Wales.

Later life

Glen-Haig eventually moved to

West Kensington, London West Kensington, formerly North End, is an area in the ancient parish of Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) west of Charing Cross. It covers most of the London postal area of W14, inclu ...

, where she worked at a hospital as district administrator from 1974 until 1982, the year that she was made one of the first female members of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. She was also Chairman of the

Central Council of Physical Recreation Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

during the 1970s. She continued to fence until her mid-to-late 70s. As an IOC representative she supervised the first edition of the Women's Islamic Games in February 1993 and ensured the smooth running of the competitions. 407 athletes in eight different sports took part in the first edition of the Games from such countries as Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, Syria and Iran. She was an honorary member of the IOC. Glen-Haig was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 1971 Queen's Birthday Honours, promoted to Commander (CBE) in the 1977

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

, and Dame Commander (DBE) in the 1993 New Year Honours. At the conclusion of the 2004 Summer Olympics, Glen-Haig recited the English version of an ode in praise of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. She served as the ambassador from Britain to the 2012 Summer Olympics, which was held in London. She died at the age of 96 on 15 November 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glen-Haig, Mary 1918 births 2014 deaths British female fencers Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Olympic fencers for Great Britain Fencers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1950 British Empire Games Fencers at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England International Olympic Committee members British sports executives and administrators Fencers from London Sporting dames Commonwealth Games medallists in fencing Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games