Beverley Lanita Callender (née Goddard, born 28 August 1956) is a British/Barbadian 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 ...

sprinter. She competed for

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 ...

at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

in Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980 and

Los Angeles 1984 The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

, winning bronze medals in the

4 x 100 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 1980 and 1984. She is also the 1981 World Student Games 100 metres champion.

Biography

Goddard was born in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

and raised in England. She was a member of the Reading Athletic Club. In 1976, she competed at the

Montreal Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal w ...

, reaching the quarter finals of the 200 metres. She was coached by Jim Spooner. In 1978, she finished fourth in the 200 metres final at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, before winning gold in the 4 × 100 m relay along with Kathy Smallwood, Sharon Colyear and

Sonia Lannaman Sonia May Lannaman (born 24 March 1956) is a British former athlete, who competed mainly in the 100 metres. She won the Commonwealth Games 100 metres title in Edmonton 1978 and won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the ...

. At the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in Prague, the same quartet won a silver medal behind the Soviet Union and ahead of East Germany. In 1979, she won three medals at the World Student Games (Universiade), with bronze in the 100 and 200 metres and silver in the sprint relay. In the 100 metres, she ran her lifetime best of 11.22 seconds in the semifinal. At the

1980 Moscow Olympic Games The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

, she was one of three British woman who reached the 200 m final, finishing sixth in a lifetime best of 22.72 seconds. Kathy Smallwood was fifth and Sonia Lannaman eighth. The three then teamed up with 100 metres finalist Heather Hunte, to win the bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay. The quartet ran a UK record of 42.43 secs, which stood until 2014. Her biggest individual success came in 1981, when she won the World Student Games title at 100 metres, defeating the Soviet sprinters Olga Zolotaryeva and Olga Nasonova. She also won a silver medal in the relay. In 1982, now competing as Beverley Callender, she reached the 200 metres finals at both the

in Athens and 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 ...

in Brisbane, finishing fifth (22.91 secs) and sixth (22.92 secs) respectively. In Prague, she teamed up with Wendy Hoyte, Smallwood and Shirley Thomas to win relay silver, while in Brisbane, she won relay gold with Hoyte, Smallwood and Sonia Lannaman. A year later, she won a relay silver medal at the inaugural

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in Helsinki, along with

Joan Baptiste Joan Jeanetta Baptiste (born 12 October 1959) is a former British sprinter who competed mainly in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay. She won a silver medal at the inaugural World Championships in 1983 in the 4 × 100 m relay a ...

, Kathy Cook (Smallwood) and Shirley Thomas. She also competed in the 100 metres. At her third Olympic Games in Los Angeles 1984, she won her second Olympic bronze medal, reuniting with two of her three teammates from Moscow, Heather Oakes (Hunte) and Kathy Cook. The fourth squad member was Simmone Jacobs. From 1978–1984, the British or English women's sprint relay squads won a medal at every Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth competition, both Callender and Kathy Cook were a member of every team. She usually ran the third leg and became a specialist in this position. 1984 would be the last time for 29 years, that the British Women's 4 × 100 m squad won a medal at Olympic or World level. This ended in 2013 when they won bronze at the World Championships. In domestic competition, at the

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 ...

and UK Championships, she had eight second-place finishes. At the AAAs she was second three times in the 200 metres (1979, 1982 and 1984) and second in the 1980 100 metres. At the UKs, she was second three times at 100 metres (1978, 1979 and 1982) and second in the 1978 200 metres. She did win the 1982 UK title at 200 metres. She was also twice third in the AAAs 200 metres (1979, 1983) and twice third at the UK 100 metres (1979, 1983), for a total of 13 top three placements. As of 2022, Callender's 200 metres best, ranks her 14th on the UK all-time list. In the 100 metres she ranks 21st. Now a retired teacher.

Personal bests

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

– 11.22 (1979) *

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

– 22.72 (1980) * 4×100 metres – 42.43 (1980) former

National titles

UK Athletics Championships The UK Athletics Championships was an annual national championship in track and field for the United Kingdom, organised by the British Athletics Federation. The event incorporated the 1980 Olympic trials for the British Olympic team. The venue ...

**200 metres: 1982

International competitions

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goddard, Beverley 1956 births Living people English female sprinters British female sprinters Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Barbadian emigrants to England Black British sportswomen Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for Great Britain FISU World University Games silver medalists for Great Britain FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games 20th-century English sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics