Marilyn Neufville

Marilyn Neufville

Personal information
Born	November 16, 1952
Medal record Women's Athletics Competitor for  Jamaica Commonwealth Games Gold 1970 Edinburgh 400 metres Pan American Games Gold 1971 Cali 400 metres Bronze 1971 Cali 4x400m relay Central American and Caribbean Championships Gold 1971 Kingston 400m Competitor for  United Kingdom European Athletics Indoor Championships Gold 1970 Vienna 400m

Marilyn Fay Neufville (born November 16, 1952) is a former Jamaican athlete who had success in the sprints between 1967 to 1971. Neufville broke the world record in the 400 m and won four gold medals and one bronze in various regional championships. Born in Jamaica,she emigrated at eight years old to Great Britain.

British Years

Marilyn gained three Women's AAA titles as a junior in the 100 yds and 150 yds in the under 15s category in 1967 and won the 220 yds in the under 17 category in 1968. In 1969, she was second at the Women's AAA Championships behind Dorothy Hyman in the 200m, where she ran 24.3seconds. Marilyn first appeared on the international scene in September 1969, when she ran the 4x400m in a Great Britain v West Germany match in Hamburg. In March 1970, she competed for Great Britain in the European Indoor Athletics Championships and won gold over 400 m in 53.01, breaking her outdoor PB of 54.2 and the world indoor record, as well as the UK National Junior Indoor Record which still stands to this day. Later in 1970, she won the WAAA outdoor title at the same distance in 52.6.

Jamaican Years

In the summer, before the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh Marilyn chose to represent her country of birth, Jamaica over her country of residence. This caused wide controversy with many members of the British public saying she had betrayed where she was trained and considered her switch like treason. At the Commonwealth Games Neufville established a new world record by improving the preceding mark previously held by the Frenchwomen Colette Besson and Nicole Duclos with 51.0 (electronically timed as 51.02)at the age of 17. This made her the first and so far only Jamaican female athlete to break an outdoor world record. In 1970, she gained more recognition at ISTAF athletics meet in Berlin then at the AAA championships running 52.6 in front of Germany’s Christel Frese and Inge Eckhoff. In 1971, in the indoor AAA championships, Marilyn was beaten by Jannette Champion which reversed the result of the previous year. The same year, in the Pan-American Championships in Cali, she gained her third gold medal and bronze in the 4 X 400 m. At the 1971 Central American and Caribbean Championships she won a fourth gold medal. Her successes earned her two Jamaica Sportswoman of the year awards in 1970 and 1971. After battling with injuries Marilyn returned at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games but was a shadow of her former self only finishing sixth in the 400m final. In the 1976 Summer Olympics Neufville made her Olympic debut finishing fourth in her heat but had to pull out of her round 2 heat through injury. There is almost no doubt that Marilyn Neufville never reached her full potential as an athlete.

Trivia

• Despite being World Record Holder and Commonwealth champion when she was 17 she didn't make her Olympic debut until she was 24.
• She was a member of Cambridge Harriers.

Honours

European Athletics Indoor Championships

1970 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Vienna, Austria

• Gold Medal 400m

British Commonwealth Games

1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland

• Gold Medal 400m
• 5th place 4x100m

1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand

• 6th in the 400 m

Pan-American Games

1971 Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia

• Gold Medal 400m
• Bronze Medal 4x400m

Central American and Caribbean Championships

1971 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics in Kingston, Jamaica

• Gold Medal 400 m

World Records

• 400m World Record of in 51.02 on July 23, 1970 in Edinburgh (improvement of the world record set by Colette Besson and Nicole Duclos), was equalled by Monika Zehrt and Mona-Lisa Pursiainen then beaten by Irena Szewińska in 1974.

• 400m World Indoor Record in 53.01 in March 1971 in Vienna broken by Nadezhda Ilyina in 1974.

External links

• Marilyn Neufville on Sporting Heroes
• Commonwealth Games Results
• Olympic Results
• Video of Neufville's world record

Sources

This article results partially from a translation of the article from French Wikipedia:Marilyn Neufville

Persondata
Name	Neufville, Marilyn
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 16, 1952
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death