Angela Mary Littlewood (born 24 September 1949 in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

) is a female retired English

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

ter.

Biography

Littlewood attended

Clifton Hall Girls' Grammar School Clifton Hall Girls' Grammar School was a girls grammar school at Clifton Hall, in Clifton, Nottingham. History Clifton Hall, which has been around since the 11th century, became the property of the Clifton family in the 13th century. The fami ...

. She played at left inner for Sherwood Juniors hockey team and was the all-England school champion at shot put. She lived on Bramhall Road in

Bilborough Bilborough is a suburb of the city of Nottingham, in the Nottingham district, in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the City of Nottingham ward at the 2011 census was 16,792. St Martin of Tours' Church, Bilbor ...

, the daughter of Betty Littlewood, a Labour councillor on

Nottingham City Council Nottingham City Council is the local authority for the city of Nottingham, in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. Nottingham has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous ...

. She wanted to become a PE teacher or go to physiotherapy college. Littlewood went to Nonington College of Physical Education in

Nonington Nonington () (variously, Nonnington, Nunyngton, Nonnyngton and Nunnington), is a civil parish and village in east Kent, halfway between the historic city of Canterbury and the English Channel, channel port town of Dover. The civil parish includes ...

, Kent, to be a PE teacher and was elected as the college's first ever Sabbatical officer in 1972. In 1974 she played netball for the county, with

Sue Campbell, Baroness Campbell of Loughborough Susan Catherine Campbell, Baroness Campbell of Loughborough (born 10 October 1948) is a British sports administrator who was chair of UK Sport between 2003 and 2013. Educational career Campbell was educated at Long Eaton Grammar School and Be ...

. In 1975 she returned to competition, after injury. She moved from Nottingham in 1976 to teach in London.

Athletics career

Littlewood became the British shot put champion after winning the British

WAAA Championships The WAAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) in England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event for women during its lifetime. Since 1880, the Amateur Athl ...

title at the

1978 WAAA Championships The 1978 WAAA Championships sponsored by Sunsilk were the national track and field championships for women in the United Kingdom. The event was held at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London, from 18 to 19 August 1978. The 10,000 w ...

. Shortly afterwards Littlewood represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the shot put event, at the

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

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Canada. At the 1980 Olympics Games in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, she represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and set a personal best of 17.53 metres. This placed her fifth on the British outdoor all-time list, behind

Judy Oakes Judith Miriam Oakes (born 14 February 1958 in Lewisham, Greater London) is a female retired English shot putter, powerlifter, and weightlifter. Athletics career Oakes represented Great Britain in the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1988 Summer Olympics, ...

Myrtle Augee Myrtle Sharon Mary Augee (born 4 February 1965) is a female English retired shot putter who competed at two Olympic Games. Augee was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours. Biography Augee re ...

Meg Ritchie Margaret "Meg" Elizabeth Stone Ritchie (born 6 July 1952) is a retired Scottish discus thrower and Shot putter. She reached the Olympic finals at discus in Moscow 1980 (9th) and Los Angeles 1984 (5th). She also won the 1982 Commonwealth Games t ...

and

Venissa Head Venissa Anne Head (born 1 September 1956) is a former international track and field athlete from Wales who competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Biography Head went to secondary school at Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School in Wales, and it was ...

. It was the British record at the time. In 1980 she was the first British woman to throw over 17 metres, at shot put and in 1981 regained the WAA title at the

1981 WAAA Championships The 1981 WAAA Championships sponsored by Sunsilk, were the national track and field championships for women in the United Kingdom. The event was held at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London, from 24 to 25 July 1981. The Pentathlo ...

. Four years later she represented

again in the shot put 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 ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia.

International competitions

References

External links

* * * * * 1949 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes from Nottingham British female shot putters Commonwealth Games athletes for England English female shot putters Olympic athletes for Great Britain Schoolteachers from Nottinghamshire 20th-century English sportswomen {{England-shotput-athletics-bio-stub