Phyllis Nicol (born Phyllis Green; 1908–1999) was a British

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er. She was the first woman to clear five feet (1.52 metres) in the high jump, setting a world record when she was 17 years old. She broke her own record the following year and at the 1927 Women's Amateur Athletic Association championships, she cleared 1.58 metres. Following her brief athletic career, she moved to Ewell and was a missionary.

Early life

Phyllis Adine Green was born on 2 February 1908 in

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...

, England, to Rose (née Hanvey) and Henry Ernest Green, a manager for an undertaker. She attended Peckham High School for Girls in south London.

Athletic career

Green was 17 years old when she broke the world record for the women's high jump. In June 1925, she cleared 1.51 metres at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

stadium, matching the world record. On the same day, she broke the British record for the long jump held by Mary Lines, with a jump of 5.24 metres. A month later in Brussels, Green matched the high jump world record again. On 11 July 1925, she broke the world record at Stamford Bridge stadium when she was the first woman to clear five feet (1.52 metres). She was quoted in a 1925 newspaper article as saying "I have always jumped from the time I learned to walk... I never went round an obstacle—I always jumped over it." At the 1926 Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) championships she won both the long and high jump events. In 1926 at Chiswick, she cleared 1.55 metres in the high jump, breaking her own world record. At the 1927 WAAA championships at Reading, she cleared 1.58 metres from a grass takeoff, her personal best. While the jump equalled the world record metrically, it wasn't ratified as it was 3/16 inches less than the imperial record at the time. Green used the scissors technique for her high jumps. After the 1927 championships, she did not compete again.

Later life

Following her retirement in 1927, Green was not a public figure. She moved to Ewell and was employed as a clerk. She married Presbyterian minister George Manson Nicol in 1946 at Ewell Congregational Church. They were both missionaries in Malaya. She lived in Conaways Close for almost 50 years. Nicol died on 26 November 1999 at Epsom General Hospital. Ewell's Bourne Hall Museum has records from her career.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicol, Phyllis 1908 births 1999 deaths English female high jumpers British female high jumpers People from Peckham English female long jumpers British female long jumpers English Presbyterian missionaries People from Ewell World record setters in athletics (track and field)