View source for Mary Rand

{{Short description|British/American track and field athlete}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name           = Mary Rand<br /><small>{{nobold|{{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}}}}</small>
| image          = Mary Rand 1966.jpg
| image_size     = 
| caption        = Rand in 1966
| birth_name     = Mary Denise Bignal
| full_name      = 
| nationality    = British (English)
| residence      = 
| birth_date     = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1940|02|10}}
| birth_place    = [[Wells, Somerset]], England
| death_date     = 
| death_place    = 
| height         = 1.73 m
| weight         = 61 kg
| sport       = [[Sport of Athletics|Athletics]]
| event       = pentathlon, long jump, high jump
| club           = London Olympiades AC
| olympics       = 
| show-medals    = yes
| medaltemplates =
{{Medal|Sport|Women's [[athletics (sport)|athletics]]}}
{{Medal|Country | {{GBR2}} }}
{{Medal|Competition|[[Athletics at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{Medal|Gold| [[Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Tokyo]]|[[Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's long jump|Long jump]]}}
{{Medal|Silver| [[Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Tokyo]]|[[Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's pentathlon|Pentathlon]]}}
{{Medal|Bronze| [[Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Tokyo]]|[[Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 m relay]]}}
{{Medal|Comp|[[European Athletics Championships|European Championships]]}}
{{Medal|Bronze| [[1962 European Athletics Championships|1962 Belgrade]]|[[1962 European Athletics Championships – Women's long jump|Long jump]]}}
{{Medal|Bronze| [[1962 European Athletics Championships|1962 Belgrade]]|[[1962 European Athletics Championships – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 m relay]]}}
{{Medal|Country | {{ENG}} }}
{{Medal|Comp|[[Athletics at the Commonwealth Games|British Empire and Commonwealth Games]]}}
{{Medal|Gold| [[1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games|1966 Kingston]]|[[Athletics at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games|Long jump]]}}
{{Medal|Silver| [[1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games|1958 Cardiff]]|[[Athletics at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games|Long jump]]}}
}}
'''Mary Denise Rand''', [[Member of the Order of the British Empire|MBE]] (née '''Bignal'''; born 10 February 1940) is a British 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 and field. Until [[Emma Finucane]] in [[2024 Summer Olympics|2024]], she was the only British female athlete to win three medals in a single Games.

== Early life ==
Mary Rand is the daughter of Eric and Hilda Bignal. She was born and grew up in [[Wells, Somerset|Wells]], [[Somerset]], England. At 16, [[Millfield School]] offered her an athletics scholarship. She excelled in all sports and won All-England Schools' titles. She was outstanding at [[high jump]], long jump and [[Hurdling|hurdles]]. In 1956, she was a guest of the Olympic squad at a training camp in [[Brighton]], where she beat Britain's best high jumpers.

== Athletics career ==
At 17, Rand set a British record of 4,046 points in the pentathlon.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.ukonline.co.uk/m.gratton/Her%20Name%20Was%20Mary/Mary%20-%20Page%203%20-%20athlete.htm |title=Her name was Mary |access-date=2006-08-13 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060518004708/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/m.gratton/Her%20Name%20Was%20Mary/Mary%20-%20Page%203%20-%20athlete.htm |archive-date=18 May 2006 }}. ukonline.co.uk</ref> She was selected for England<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19580612/117/0020 |title=Marion jumps into Games |work=Daily Mirror |p=20 |date=12 June 1958 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=28 September 2025}}</ref> and won a silver medal in the [[1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games|1958 Commonwealth Games]] the long jump and came fifth in the high jump. One month later she came seventh in the European [[pentathlon]] championship.

In the [[1960 Summer Olympics|1960 Olympics]] in [[Rome]], she set a British record of 6.33&nbsp;m in the qualifying round of the long jump, which if repeated, would have won a silver in the final. In the final she fouled two of the three jumps and finished ninth. She also finished fourth in the 80 m hurdles. She won a bronze medal in the European championship long jump in 1962.<ref name=r1>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bi/mary-bignal-rand-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417114503/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bi/mary-bignal-rand-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-04-17 |title=Mary Bignal-Rand}}</ref>

At the [[1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Olympics]] in [[Tokyo]], Rand set an Olympic record in the long jump in the qualifying rounds, jumping 6.52&nbsp;m. In the final she beat the favourite, world record holder [[Tatyana Schelkanova]] of the [[USSR]] and Poland's [[Irena Kirszenstein]]. Her first jump of 6.59m was a British record. However, in the fifth round, on a wet runway with a headwind of 1.6 metres a second, she broke the [[Women's long jump world record progression|world record]], leaping 6.76&nbsp;m to take gold. Her record lasted four years until it was broken [[1968 in athletics#altitude|at altitude]] by [[Viorica Viscopoleanu]] in the Mexico City Olympics.

Rand won the silver medal in the pentathlon, her 5,035 points putting her second in the all-time rankings. She was beaten to the gold by [[Irina Press]], whose biological sex has been the subject of speculation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2782/switch-hitter/|access-date=27 June 2019|title=Straight Dope|date=22 August 2008 }}</ref> She also won a bronze as a member of the Great Britain team that finished third in the 4 × 100 metres relay.<ref>[http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=1780 Sporting Heroes biography]. Sporting-heroes.net. Retrieved on 6 December 2013.</ref>

Six days after Rand won the gold medal, her roommate [[Ann Packer]] won the 800 metres. Packer said: "Mary was the most gifted athlete I ever saw. She was as good as athletes get, there has never been anything like her since. And I don't believe there ever will."

Rand was made a [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]] (MBE) in the [[1965 New Year Honours]] for services to athletics and voted [[BBC Sports Personality of the Year]] for 1964.<ref>United Kingdom list: {{London Gazette |issue=43529 |date=29 December 1964 |pages=18 |supp=y}}</ref>

After Tokyo, her training was less intensive, but she won a gold in the long jump at the [[1966 Commonwealth Games]]. Due to injury, she failed to make the 1968 British Olympic team and retired in September that year.

Rand also held the world record in the triple jump from 1959 to 1981; it was unofficial as a world record because the women's triple jump was not recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations until 1990.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hard to beat: longest held athletic records – interactive |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/olympic_infographics_and_data/9397571/Hard-to-beat-longest-held-athletic-records-interactive.html |access-date=13 July 2012 |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=13 July 2012 |author=Huw Silk |author2=graphic by Caroline Dewar}}</ref>

Rand won 12 national [[WAAA Championships]]; six [[List of British champions in long jump|long jump titles]] (1959, 1961, & 1963 to 1966) two [[List of British champions in high jump|high jump titles]] (1958 & 1959) two [[List of British champions in sprint hurdles|sprint hurdles]] (1959 & 1966) and two [[List of British champions in decathlon/heptathlon|pentathlon titles]] (1959 & 1960).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=19 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=19 February 2025 }}</ref>

There is a plaque commemorating the world record long jump (6.76 metres) by Rand at the 1964 Olympic Games in the Market Place in [[Wells, Somerset|Wells]], the distance being marked out by a row of Olympic rings set into the pavement. She was succeeded as Golden Girl of British athletics by her friend and London Olympiades club-mate, [[Lillian Board]].

In 2009, Rand was inducted into the [[England Athletics Hall of Fame]].

On 26 January 2012 Wells awarded her the Freedom of the City, following a campaign started by [[Wells, Somerset|Wells]] resident Tony Williams.<ref>{{cite news |title=Olympic star Mary Rand given freedom of the city of Wells |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-16752242 |publisher=BBC |access-date=16 February 2012 |date=27 January 2012}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
[[File:Mary Rand and Eef Kamerbeek 1960b.jpg|thumb|235px|Bignal with Eef Kamerbeek in 1960]]
Around 1960 Bignal dated Dutch decathlete [[Eef Kamerbeek]]. In 1961 she met rower [[Sidney Rand (rower)|Sid Rand]]. Three days after meeting she agreed to marry him and they married five weeks later.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.times-olympics.co.uk/historyheroes/stgbo06.html |title=Mary Rand |access-date=2007-06-14 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017043633/http://www.times-olympics.co.uk/historyheroes/stgbo06.html |archive-date=17 October 2007 }}. Times-olympics.co.uk. Retrieved on 6 December 2013.</ref> They had a daughter, Alison. The marriage lasted five years.

In December 1969, she married her second husband, American [[Bill Toomey]], the 1968 Olympics' decathlon champion. This marriage lasted 22 years and they had two daughters, Samantha and Sarah. She later married John Reese and lives with him in [[Atascadero]], [[California]], in the United States.<ref>Martin, David {{cite web |url=http://www.sportinglife.com/olympics/best_of_british/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=others%2F00%2F08%2F22%2FOLYMPICS_Rand.html |title=RAND WAS BORN TO WIN |access-date=2017-06-04 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020212165530/http://www.sportinglife.com/olympics/best_of_british/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=others%2F00%2F08%2F22%2FOLYMPICS_Rand.html |archive-date=12 February 2002 }}. Sporting Life</ref> She holds dual UK/US citizenship.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boa.org.uk/documents/The%20Olympian%20Win04.pdf |title=Where are they now? Mary Rand (athletics) |access-date=2007-06-14 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227103342/http://www.boa.org.uk/documents/The%20Olympian%20Win04.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2008 }}. ''The Olympian''. Winter 2004. p. 7</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.britishpathe.com/video/mary-bignal-rand British Pathe film: Mary Bignal Rand 1961]
*[http://www.britishpathe.com/video/home-town-cheers-mary-rand/ British Pathe film: Home Town Cheers Mary Rand 1964]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/cta/sport/programmes/sroty/1964_award.ram Grainy video of her receiving BBC Sportsview Personality of the Year Award 1964]

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{succession box|before=[[Tatyana Shchelkanova]]|title=[[Women's long jump world record progression|Women's Long Jump World Record Holder]]|years=1964-10-14&nbsp;– 1968-10-14|after=[[Viorica Viscopoleanu]]}}
{{succession box|before=[[Rie Yamaguchi]]|title=[[World record progression triple jump|Women's Triple Jump World Record Holder]]<br><small>Not officially ratified by the IAAF</small>|years=1959-06-18&nbsp;– 1981-05-09|after= [[Terri Turner]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions Long Jump Women}}
{{Footer Commonwealth Champions Long Jump Women}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions Great Britain Women}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in women's long jump}}
{{Footer AAA Championships High Jump Women}}
{{British Indoor Athletics Championships women's long jump champions}}
{{BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rand, Mary}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Wells, Somerset]]
[[Category:English women long jumpers]]
[[Category:British women long jumpers]]
[[Category:British pentathletes]]
[[Category:British women triple jumpers]]
[[Category:English women triple jumpers]]
[[Category:English women hurdlers]]
[[Category:British women hurdlers]]
[[Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:English Olympic competitors]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games]]
[[Category:World record setters in the sport of athletics]]
[[Category:European Athletics Championships medalists]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners]]
[[Category:People educated at Millfield]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists in athletics]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists in athletics]]
[[Category:Olympic female pentathletes]]
[[Category:Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games]]
[[Category:20th-century English sportswomen]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics]]