Sheila Sherwood (born Sheila Hilary Parkin, 22 October 1945 in

Parson Cross Firth Park ward—which includes the districts of Firth Park, Longley, Parson Cross and parts of Wincobank—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England located in the northern part of the city and covering an area ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

, West Riding of Yorkshire, England) is a former international

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

er whose career highlights included a silver medal at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport ev ...

in Mexico, and a gold medal at the

1970 British Commonwealth Games The 1970 British Commonwealth Games (Scottish Gaelic: Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis Bhreatainn 1970) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first tim ...

in Edinburgh. She competed in three consecutive

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

(1964, 1968 and 1972) and had a career best distance of 6.73 metres.

Early life

As a child, her parents were caretaker and head cook at St Thomas More School in nearby Grenoside. Sherwood attended Yew Lane Secondary Modern, where at the age of fifteen she was appointed as Head-Girl. After a successful set of O-Level results, she transferred to nearby Ecclesfield Grammar School to study for her A-Levels.

Athletics career

She first came to prominence as an athlete as a 16-year-old as a member of the Sheffield-based Sheffield United Harriers athletic club. Competing under her maiden name of Sheila Parkin, she created an English Schools long jump record in the summer of 1962. On the strength of this she was selected to represent Great Britain against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in August 1962 where she finished second behind former world record holder Elzbieta Krzensinska by just 2 cm. This performance started her long and distinguished career as an international long jumper, as it resulted in selection for the 1962

European championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

in Belgrade, where she finished 12th, and then representing

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 ...

in the long jump at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, where she achieved 5th position. Sherwood's early career saw only a slight improvement in her jumping, and she was eclipsed by fellow British jumper

Mary Rand Mary Denise Rand, MBE (née Bignal on 10 February 1940) is an English former track and field athlete. She won the long jump at the 1964 Summer Olympics by breaking the world record, the first British female to win an Olympic gold medal in track ...

on many occasions. Rand took the gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games where Sherwood only finished 13th. However, it was in Tokyo that Sheila met British hurdler John Sherwood and a romance began that was to result in marriage three years later. Sheila's relationship with John coincided with a marked improvement in her jumping performances. She took the silver medal at the

1966 Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth P ...

in Kingston, Jamaica behind Rand and at the 1968 Olympic Games in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

she took the silver medal behind the Romanian

Viorica Viscopoleanu Viorica Viscopoleanu (née Belmega on 8 August 1939) is a retired Romanian long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff poi ...

with a personal best leap of 6.68 metres. Sherwood took the gold medal at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

with a career best jump of 6.73 metres and finished fourth at the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki. However, in her latter years in the sport she was hindered by back problems. Despite this she was selected for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich where she finished a commendable ninth. Her career as an international long jumper came to a conclusion at the

1974 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 ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

where she took seventh place.

Retirement and personal life

In the mid-1970s Sherwood and her husband helped form the breakaway Sheffield Athletic Club, which then amalgamated with

Sheffield United Harriers The Sheffield United Harriers athletics club were formed in 1894 in Sheffield, England. The first meeting of the club was reported in the ''Sporting Chronicle'' 22 May 1894. "The first evening meeting of this newly formed club took place yes ...

to form Sheffield City Athletic Club. The club later changed its name to the City of Sheffield Athletic Club. Sherwood is the mother of British international tennis player

David Sherwood David Sherwood is a British tennis coach and retired tennis player. In his only live Davis Cup match, Sherwood played doubles with Andy Murray beating the Israeli World No 4 doubles team of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, Early and personal life ...

who was born in 1980. After retiring from athletics she continued to work as a physical education teacher at Myers Grove Comprehensive School in Sheffield.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwood, Sheila 1945 births Living people Sportspeople from Sheffield British female long jumpers English female long jumpers Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics English Olympic medallists Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) People educated at Ecclesfield Grammar School Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade gold medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games