Ruth Martin-Jones (also known as Ruth Swinhoe and Ruth Howell, born 28 January 1947) is a former

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

er and heptathlete.

Biography

Martin–Jones is from

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...

and attended the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, taking a French PhD. By 1972 she was teaching in

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

. Martin–Jones finished third behind Sheila Sherwood in the long jump event and second behind

Ann Wilson Ann Dustin Wilson (born June 19, 1950) is an American singer best known as the lead singer of the rock band Heart. Wilson has been a member of Heart since the early 1970s; her younger sister, Nancy Wilson, is also a member of the band. One o ...

in the pentathlon at the 1972 WAAA Championships. She competed for Great Britain at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, finishing 28th in the long jump event. She was the first Welsh women to compete 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 ...

. At the

1974 British Commonwealth Games The 1974 British Commonwealth Games () were held in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The event was officially named "the friendly games". T ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, she won a bronze medal competing for Wales. Her jump was equal to silver medalist Brenda Eisler, but Eisler had a better second jump. later that Summer she became the British long jump champion after winning the British

WAAA Championships The WAAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) in England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event for women during its lifetime. Since 1880, the Amateur Athl ...

title at the

1974 WAAA Championships The 1974 WAAA Championships were the national track and field championships for women in the United Kingdom. The event was held at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London, from 19 to 20 July 1974. Results + Held on 26 May at Cr ...

. She also competed at the

1970 British Commonwealth Games The 1970 British Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first time metric units rather than imperial units were used in all eve ...

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 ...

, and the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. In 1978, Martin-Jones won the first

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

event in the world at the

Alexander Stadium Alexander Stadium is an athletics stadium in Perry Barr, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is the largest athletics stadium in the United Kingdom. The stadium has four stands with a total seated capacity of 18,000. The stadium site has four build ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. In 2016, Martin-Jones was inducted into the Welsh Athletics Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* * 1947 births Martin-Jones Alumni of the University of Birmingham Martin-Jones Sportspeople from Oswestry Marin-Jones Martin-Jones Martin-Jones Martin-Jones Martin-Jones Martin-Jones Martin-Jones Martin-Jones Martin-Jones Martin-Jones Medallists at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games People from Criccieth Competitors at the 1970 Summer Universiade Welsh heptathletes Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics {{Wales-athletics-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links