Verona Marolin Elder (née Verona Bernard)

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 5 April 1953 in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

) is a female British, Commonwealth and European medal winning English

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

runner and is now the manager of the British

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

team for people with

learning disability Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty (British English) is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficult ...

Athletics career

She made her debut on the international stage at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

taking fifth place in the 4 × 400 m relay. The following year she won the 400m title at the European Indoor Championships in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, ahead of the East Germans

Waltraud Dietsch Waltraud Dietsch, née Birnbaum (born 26 November 1950 in Staßfurt, East Germany) is a retired German sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. She won a gold medal in 4x400 metres relay at the 1974 European Championships in Athletics, 1974 Eu ...

and Renate Siebach. At the

1974 British Commonwealth Games The 1974 British Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1974 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Christchurch, New Zealand from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The Games were off ...

she finished second in the 400 m and won the 4 × 400 m relay. She retained her European indoor title at the European Indoor Championships in 1975 in

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

. She was a Finalist in the 400 m and 800 m at the European Championships in 1978. 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 gold medal in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay event with

Jannette Roscoe Jannette Veronica Roscoe (née Champion; born 10 June 1946) is a female British sprinter. Early life She grew up in Hale, Greater Manchester, when in Cheshire. Teaching career In June 1970 she taught at Weaverham Secondary School. After m ...

Ruth Kennedy Ruth Kennedy (married name Ruth Patten; born 1957), is a female former athlete who competed for England. Athletics career She represented England and won a gold medal in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay with Jannette Roscoe, Sue Pettett and ...

and Sue Pettett and a silver medal in the 400 metres, at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with apar ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. At the start of 1979 season she won gold at the indoor European Indoor Championships in

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

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, ahead of

Jarmila Kratochvílová Jarmila Kratochvílová (; born 26 January 1951, in Golčův Jeníkov) is a Czech people, Czech former track and field athlete. She won the 400 metres and 800 metres at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics, 1983 World Championships, setting a ...

. She also represented

in the 400 metres hurdles event, at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Coaching career

She was a member of the Wolverhampton & Bilston club, Staffordshire. She went on to teach sport to people with learning disability at Thurrock College,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. She led Great Britain to six gold, six silver and three bronze medals at the 7th International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability (INAS) World Indoor Championships for athletes with learning disabilities as the team manager. With GB finishing second in the medal table behind

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Sport City. She was Chef de Mission to the 2011 INAS Global Games in Italy on 24 September – 4 October 2011.UK Sports association Verona Elder
Retrieved 22 June 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elder, Verona 1953 births Living people Sportspeople from Wolverhampton British female sprinters English female sprinters Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games