Mary Price (27 August 1943 – 5 May 2023) was an English international

lawn bowler Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

and indoor bowler.

Bowls career

Mary Price was from Farnham Common in Slough and played competitive

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

, and

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

but achieved her greatest successes in bowls. After winning the

National title A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

in 1988 she became the first woman in England to win both the indoor and outdoor singles titles. She subsequently won the singles at the

British Isles Bowls Championships The British Isles Bowls Championships is a tournament held between the champions of their respective nations, England Scotland, Wales, combined Ireland and more recently Guernsey and Jersey. It was first held in 1960 although the triples event did ...

in 1989. Her greatest win was arguably the singles title at the 1991

World Indoor Bowls Championships The World Indoor Bowls Championship is an international bowls competition held annual at Potters holiday park in Hopton on Sea. The last week of the competition is televised live on BBC where the open singles and open pairs', women's singles a ...

World Outdoor Championships

Price won five

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

medals at consecutive Championships starting with a bronze medal in the pairs and silver medal in the fours at the 1988 World Outdoor Bowls Championship. Four years later in Ayr she won a fours bronze and at the

1996 World Outdoor Bowls Championship The 1996 Men's World Outdoor Bowls Championship was held at the Lockleys Bowls Club in Adelaide, Australia, from 18 to 31 March 1996. The 1996 Women's World Outdoor Bowls Championship was held at Victoria Park, Leamington Spa, England ...

in Leamington Spa she won another fours bronze medal. the fifth and final medal arrived in Johannesburg in 2000 when she won a pairs bronze with Jean Baker at the

2000 World Outdoor Bowls Championship The 2000 Men's World Outdoor Bowls Championship was held at Marks Park Bowling Club, in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 1 to 15 April 2000. The 2000 Women's World Outdoor Bowls Championship was held at Moama Bowling Club in Moama, Australia ...

Commonwealth Games

Price won three bronze medals at consecutive

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 ...

. She gained a bronze medal in the fours at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

and bronze medals in the

pairs Concentration, also known as Memory, Shinkei-suijaku (Japanese meaning "nervous breakdown"), Matching Pairs, Match Match, Match Up, Pelmanism, Pexeso or simply Pairs, is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and tw ...

at the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

and

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, ...

Atlantic Championships

Price won four medals at the

Atlantic Bowls Championships The Atlantic Bowls Championships was a lawn bowling competition held between national bowls organisations in the Atlantic region. The event was a qualifying event for the World Outdoor Bowls Championships until the 2021 announcement that it woul ...

. In 1995 she won the fours bronze medal in Durban. Two years later in Wales she won double gold in the singles and pairs (with Katherine Hawes). Her fourth and final medal was in 1999 in the fours.

Management

After retiring from international bowls she continued to participate in regional tournaments with her last win coming in the 2023 EIBA Over-60 pairs tournament. She was also the manager of the England women's team for the 2004 World Championships and on the management team for the Commonwealth Games in 2002, 2006 and 2010. She was also a regional selector until she retired in 2020.

Death

Price died on 5 May 2023, at the age of 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Mary 1943 births 2023 deaths English female bowls players Commonwealth Games medallists in lawn bowls Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Indoor Bowls World Champions Bowls players at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games