Maeve Esther "Flumpy" Enid Kyle,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, née Shankey (born 6 October 1928), is an Irish former Olympic athlete and hockey player. She competed in three Olympic Games: at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

, the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

and the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

. In

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

, she gained 58 Irish caps as well as representing three of the four Irish provinces (Leinster, Munster and

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

) at different stages of her career. She was named in the World All-Star team in 1953 and 1959. She was also a competitor in tennis, swimming, sailing and cricket and now works as a coach. She is chair of Coaching NI. In 2006, she was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of the University (DUniv) from the

University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

Biography

Kyle, born in

Urlingford Urlingford () is a town in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is also a civil parish within the barony of Galmoy. The town is in the north west of the county, along the boundary with County Tipperary, 16 km north-east of Thurles. Access The tow ...

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

, briefly attended

Kilkenny College Kilkenny College is a Church of Ireland co-educational day and boarding secondary school located in Kilkenny, in the South-East of Ireland. It is the largest co-educational boarding school in Ireland. In 2013 it transferred to the state/public se ...

, where her father C.G. Shankey was headmaster, before attending

Alexandra College Alexandra College () is an independent day and boarding school for girls in Milltown, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under a Church of Ireland ethos. History The school was founded in 1866 and takes its name from Princess Alexandra of ...

and finally,

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

. She is the granddaughter of William Thrift. At the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Kyle competed in the 100-metre and 200-metre events. Kyle finished third behind Janet Gaunt in the pentathlon event at the 1958 WAAA Championships. At the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, she compted in both the 100 and 200 metre events and the following year won the British WAAA 440 yards event at the 1961 WAAA Championships. At the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, she reached the semi-finals of both the 400m and 800m. In 1966, she took bronze in the 400m at the 1966

European Indoor Athletics Championships The European Athletics Indoor Championships is a biennial indoor track and field competition for European athletes that is organised by the European Athletic Association. It was held for the first time in 1970, replacing the European Indoor Games ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

. She won four gold medals in the W45 category at the 1977 World Masters Championship in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

in the 100m, 400m, high jump, and long jump. She held

World Masters The World Masters, known for sponsorship reasons as the Mita/Sky World Masters, was a snooker tournament held between 13 and 26 January 1991. Conceived by promoter Barry Hearn, the tournament had a similar format to the Grand Slam (tennis), Gran ...

records in the W40 category for the 100m (12.00 secs) and 400m (55.30 secs), in the W45 category for the 100m (12.50 secs), and in the W50 category for the long jump at 5.04m. Kyle was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2006 Coaching Awards in London in recognition of her work with athletes at the Ballymena and Antrim Athletics Club. Earlier in 2006 she was one of 10 players who were initially installed into Irish hockey's Hall of Fame. She was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2008 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...

Athletics international competitions

References

External links

Maeve Kyle

Ballymena & Antrim Athletics Club

Kyle named OBE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyle, Maeve 1928 births Living people Irish female field hockey players Olympic athletes for Ireland Officers of the Order of the British Empire Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Northern Ireland Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Athletes from County Kilkenny People educated at Kilkenny College Irish female sprinters Irish female middle-distance runners Alumni of Trinity College Dublin People educated at Alexandra College Irish Anglicans Ireland international women's field hockey players Pembroke Wanderers Hockey Club players Instonians field hockey players Olympic female sprinters Irish field hockey players Sportspeople from County Kilkenny 20th-century Irish sportswomen