Maureen Gardner
1948
Olympic 80mH final: nearest athlete is Fanny Blankers-Koen (Gold) then Maureen Gardner (Silver)
Maureen Gardner was born in 1928 and turned to athletics when, following a serious illness
her doctor forbade her from travelling daily to London to study ballet. She had already been
accepted as a member of the Royal Ballet Company. She took up sprinting and when Geoff
Dyson the then Chief Coach to the AAA came to run a coaching session for Oxford
University Athletic Club at Iffley Road Track, he saw the young Maureen training. By this
time she was National Sprint Champion and he welcomed her into his squad, introducing her
to the 80 metres hurdles event. She gained her first International in 1946 and went on to win a
Silver Medal in the final of the 80metre hurdles race at the 1948 Olympic Games in London.
She narrowly missed out on the gold medal to the famous Dutch International Fanny
Blankers-Koen both clocking identical times. She also won a Silver Medal in the 1950
European Games in Belgium. She married Geoff Dyson and had two children. Maureen sadly
died at the age of 45. (See Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for more details)
