Sheila Hilary Sherwood née Parkin (22 October 1945) is a former international

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 who won a silver medal at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

in Mexico, and a gold medal 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 ...

in Edinburgh. She competed in three consecutive

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

(1964, 1968 and 1972) and had a career best distance of 6.73 metres.

Biography

As a child, her parents were caretaker and head cook at St Thomas More School in nearby

Grenoside Grenoside is a suburb of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The suburb falls within the West Ecclesfield ward of the city. History The name Grenoside is derived from the language of the Anglo-Saxons. The name Grenoside, which was first ...

. Sherwood attended Yew Lane Secondary Modern, where at the age of fifteen she was appointed as Head-Girl. After a successful set of O-Level results, she transferred to nearby Ecclesfield Grammar School to study for her A-Levels. Parkin first came to prominence as an athlete as a 16-year-old as a member of the Sheffield-based Sheffield United Harriers athletic club. She created an English Schools long jump record in the summer of 1962. On the strength of this she was selected to represent Great Britain against Poland in August 1962 where she finished second behind former world record holder Elzbieta Krzensinska by just 2 cm. This performance started her long and distinguished career as an international long jumper, as it resulted in selection for the 1962

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 Belgrade, where she finished 12th, and then representing

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the long jump at the

1962 Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Western Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North ...

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, where she achieved 5th position. Sherwood's early career saw only a slight improvement in her jumping, and she was eclipsed by fellow British jumper

Mary Rand Mary Denise Rand, Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE (née Bignal; born 10 February 1940) is a British former track and field athlete. She won the long jump at the 1964 Summer Olympics by breaking the world record, the first British ...

on many occasions, such as finishing second behind her at the

1963 WAAA Championships The 1963 WAAA Championships were the national track and field championships for women in the United Kingdom. The event was held at White City Stadium, London, on 6 July 1963. The 100 metres hurdles over a height of 2'6" was introduced. Resul ...

and

1964 WAAA Championships The 1964 WAAA Championships were the national track and field championships for women in the United Kingdom. The event was held at White City Stadium, London, on 4 July 1964. Results + Held on 30 May at Birmingham University See also ...

. At the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, she represented

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 ...

, finishing 13th behind gold medal winner Mary Rand. However, it was in Tokyo that Sheila met British hurdler John Sherwood and a romance began. Parkin's relationship with Sherwood coincided with improvement in her jumping performances. She took the silver medal at the

1966 Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. The event was followed by the 1966 Commonweal ...

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, Jamaica, behind Rand. Parkin married John Sherwood in 1968 and competed under her married name thereafter. Shortly after her marriage Sherwood became the national 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 ...

at the

1968 WAAA Championships The 1968 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 1968. The 3,000 metres event was held for ...

and later in October at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, she represented

, where she took the silver medal behind the Romanian

Viorica Viscopoleanu Viorica Viscopoleanu (née Belmega, born 8 August 1939) is a retired Romanian 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 ...

with a personal best leap of 6.68 metres. Sherwood retained her national long jump title at the

1969 WAAA Championships The 1969 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 18 to 19 July 1969. The 80 metres hurdles was discontinu ...

. Sherwood took the gold medal at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in

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 ...

with a career best jump of 6.73 metres and finished fourth at the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki. She regained her WAAA title in 1971 but in her latter years in the sport she was hindered by back problems. Despite this she was selected for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich where she finished a commendable ninth. Her career as an international long jumper came to a conclusion at the

1974 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 ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

where she took seventh place.

Retirement and personal life

In the mid-1970s Sherwood and her husband helped form the breakaway Sheffield Athletic Club, which then amalgamated with

Sheffield United Harriers City of Sheffield & Dearne Athletic Club is an athletics club based in Sheffield, England. It is based at the Sheffield Hallam University City Athletics Stadium. The club competes in the British Athletics League Premiership and Northern Athlet ...

to form Sheffield City Athletic Club. The club later changed its name to the City of Sheffield Athletic Club. Sherwood is the mother of British international tennis player

David Sherwood David Sherwood is a British tennis coach and retired tennis player. In his only live Davis Cup match, Sherwood played doubles with Andy Murray beating the Israeli World No 4 doubles team of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, Early and personal life ...

who was born in 1980. After retiring from athletics she continued to work as a physical education teacher at Myers Grove Comprehensive School in Sheffield.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwood, Sheila 1945 births Living people Athletes from Sheffield British female long jumpers English female long jumpers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics English Olympic competitors Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) People educated at Ecclesfield Grammar School Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games 20th-century English sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics