Marjorie Lea Larney (born January 4, 1937, in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

) is a retired American

track and field athlete 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 ...

known for her great throwing arm. She represented the United States in the javelin throw at the 1952 Olympics, finishing 13th after being in 8th place after the qualifying round. She was only 15 years old at the time. She returned to the Olympics in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

to place 11th. Later she attended

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

. She won the

National Championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

in the javelin five times, in 1952 and 1957–60, as well as the 1952 Olympic Trials, by almost 3 meters (10 feet). She also won the National Championships in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

in 1954 and was the first American in 1955. She represented the Queens Mercurettes for most of her career. She won a silver medal in the javelin and a bronze medal in the discus at the

1959 Pan American Games The 1959 Pan American Games, officially known as the III Pan American Games and commonly known as Chicago 1959, were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959. Host city selection One city initially su ...

. She had finished out of the medals at the

1955 Pan American Games The 1955 Pan American Games, officially known as II Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mexico 1955 (), opened on March 12, 1955, at University Stadium in Mexico City, Mexico, in front of a capacity crowd of 100,000 spectators. A total ...

. Larney later moved to

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. She continued throwing into Masters age groups, setting the American W50 records in the shot put and discus multiple times, finally at the 1987 TAC National Championships in

Springfield, Oregon Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Willamette Valley, Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield, OR MSA, Eugene-Springfield metropolitan statistical area. Separ ...

in 1987. Her discus record lasted until 1991, when it was improved by Vanessa Hilliard.http://www.mastershistory.org/NMN/06_1991.pdf

References

1937 births Living people Olympic track and field athletes for the United States American female javelin throwers American female discus throwers Track and field athletes from Brooklyn Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Track and field athletes from California Athletes (track and field) at the 1955 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1959 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) 20th-century American sportswomen USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners {{US-shotputt-athletics-bio-stub