Olympic archive: Mary Rand prepares for Rome (1960)
At the 1964 Tokyo games, Mary Rand broke the world long jump record to win gold. But four years earlier, as post room worker Mary Bignall, she was just another Olympic hopeful.
As the start of the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome drew closer, ITN’s Roger Malone went to interview British long jump and 80m hurdling hopeful Mary Bignal in the post room of the Guinness factory in London where she worked, writes Ian Searcey.
Despite her relative youth, the 20-year-old had already set a British national record for points in the pentathlon, had won a silver medal in the long jump at the 1958 Commonwealth Games, and was expected to make a big impression in Italy.
Bignal appears calm and collected in the face of the intensive in-depth grilling she receives from Malone, responding with charm and a winning smile to such probing questions as “Why do you do athletics?” and “How did you first come to run fast and jump well?”
An accomplished all-rounder, she agrees with Malone that long jump is her favourite event, closely followed by the hurdles, but avoids promising to bring home the gold when pushed. “I don’t know about winning the gold medal,” she says, “but I’ll try.”
In Rome, Bignal set a British record in qualifying, but two foul jumps ended her medal hopes in the final.
Four years later in Tokyo, married and competing as Mary Rand, she become the first British woman to win an Olympic gold in track and field, breaking the world long jump record. She also won silver in the penthalon and bronze in the 4 x 100m relay.
