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

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

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 on ...

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 the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest co ...

. In the relay, she represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

at the 1988 Olympic Games in

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 o ...

, while at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 British Empire Game ...

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

Career

Piggford was born in Gateshead, County Durham, England and was a member of

Gateshead Harriers Gateshead Harriers & AC is an athletics club based at Gateshead International Stadium, Gateshead, England, UK. History Gateshead Harriers was founded in 1904 as Gateshead St. Mary's Church Running Club. Originally for men only, ladies were per ...

. In 1986, she represented England at the

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 ...

, 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 met ...

and

Kathy Cook Kathryn Jane Cook (née Smallwood; born 3 May 1960) is a former elite 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 meda ...

, 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 known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. 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 female 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 ...

, Piggford and

Sally Gunnell Sally Jane Janet Gunnell (born 29 July 1966) is a British former track and field athlete, active between 1984 and 1997, who won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles. During a golden 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunn ...

, 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 Interna ...

in both 1989 and 1990. At

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

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

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

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

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. In January 1990, Piggford competed at her second

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 ...

. 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, entertain ...

, 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 officia ...

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, foll ...

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 Olympic athletes for Great Britain Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games