Angela Mary Gilmour (née Piggford, born 17 August 1963) is an English former

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competed in the

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 programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

and the

4 x 400 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

. In the relay, she represented Great Britain at the 1988 Olympic Games in

Seoul, South Korea Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, while at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, she won a silver medal in Edinburgh 1986 and a gold medal in Auckland 1990.

Biography

Piggford was born in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, England, and was a member of Gateshead Harriers. After finishing second behind

Kathy Cook Kathryn Jane Cook (née Smallwood; born 3 May 1960) is a former athlete, specialising in sprint and sprint relays. She is one of the most successful female sprinters in British athletics history. She is three-times an Olympic bronze medallist ...

in the 400 metres event at the

1986 WAAA Championships The 1986 WAAA Championships sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank, were the national track and field championships for women in the United Kingdom. The event was held at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, from 6 to 7 June 1986. Results *+ ...

, Piggford represented England at the

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, reaching the final of the 400 metres, finishing eighth in 53.97 secs, before teaming up with Jane Parry,

Linda Keough Linda Staines (née Keough, born 28 December 1963) is a female former British track and field athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. She represented Great Britain at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul in both the 400 metres and 4 x 400 me ...

and

, to win a silver medal in the 4x400 metres relay in 3:32.82. In 1988, Piggford earned late selection for the 4 × 400 m relay squad for the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were repres ...

. She didn't compete in the heats but came in as a replacement for Janet Smith for the final. The British quartet of Linda Keough,

Jennifer Stoute Jennifer Elaine "Jenny" Stoute (born 16 April 1965) is an English former sprinter. She represented Great Britain at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where she won a bronze medal in the 4x400 metres rel ...

, Piggford and

Sally Gunnell Sally Jane Janet Gunnell, OBE, DL (born 29 July 1966) is a British former track-and-field athlete, who won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles. During a 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunnell won every international ...

, finished sixth in 3:26.89. Piggford had some of her best results indoors, including reaching the 400 metres final at the

European Indoor Championships The European Indoor Championships was a men's tennis tournament played in Berlin, Germany. The event was played as part of the ATP Tour in 1990 and 1991. It was played on indoor carpet court A carpet court is a type of tennis court. The Intern ...

in both 1989 and 1990. At

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

in 1989, she was fourth in an indoor best time of 52.90. In

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in 1990, she was fifth. She also competed at the 1989 World Indoor Championships in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. In January 1990, Piggford competed at her second

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. In the 400 metres final, she finished fifth in 53.45. In the 4 × 400 m relay, along with Stoute, Gunnell and Keough, she won a gold medal in 3:28.08. At the European Championships in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

, she ran 53.00 to reach the semi-finals of the 400 metres. She ran in the heats of the 4 x 400 metres relay. The British quartet went on to win a bronze medal in the final with Sally Gunnell replacing Piggford. This would be her final appearance at a major championships. Piggford won both the UK title and the AAAs Indoor title in 1986. Her lifetime best in the 400 metres is 52.79, achieved in Edinburgh on 2 July 1989. Her indoor best of 52.90 at The Hague in 1989, ranked her third on the UK all-time indoor list at the time, behind Sally Gunnell and

Verona Elder Verona Marolin Elder (née Verona Bernard) MBE (born 5 April 1953 in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire) is a female British, Commonwealth and European medal winning English 400 metres runner and is now the manager of the British athletics team for ...

. As of 2013, the time still ranks her in the UK indoor all-time top twenty.

National titles

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

400 metres 2nd (1986) & 3rd (1989) * UK National 400 metres Champion (1986) 2nd (1985, 1988, 1989) *

AAA Indoor Championships The AAA Indoor Championships was an annual indoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost indoor domestic athletics event during its lifetime. The event was first held in 1935, fo ...

400 metres Champion (1986) 3rd (1989)

International competitions

(#) Indicates overall position in qualifying heats (h) or semifinals (sf).

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Piggford, Angela 1963 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England English female sprinters British female sprinters Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games 20th-century English sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics