Sheila W. Lerwill (born 16 August 1928) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

athlete who competed mainly in the high jump. She broke the World record for women's high jump on 7 July 1951 in London with a jump of 1.72 meters, beating the previous record of 1.71 meters set by

Fanny Blankers-Koen Francina "Fanny" Elsje Blankers-Koen (26 April 1918 – 25 January 2004) was a Dutch track and field athlete, best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She competed there as a 30-year-old mother of two, earn ...

of the Netherlands on 30 May 1943 in Amsterdam. The record was broken on 22 May 1954 by

Aleksandra Chudina Aleksandra Georgievna Chudina (russian: Александра Георгиевна Чудина; 6 November 1923 – 28 October 1990) was a Soviet athlete who excelled in field hockey, volleyball, and various track and field events. Field hockey ...

of the USSR in Kiev with a jump of 1.73 meters. She competed for Great Britain in the high jump at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

, held in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, where she won the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

with a jump of 1.65 metres. It was Britain's best athletics medal at the games.

References

1928 births Living people British female high jumpers Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Olympic athletes of Great Britain European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games competitors for England {{UK-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub