Rand, Mary

Mary Rand, née Mary Denise Bignal, (born February 10, 1940, Wells, Somerset, England), British track-and-field athlete, who won a gold medal in the long jump at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo to become the first British woman to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field.

Rand competed at the 1960 Games in Rome, finishing ninth in the long jump after a strong start. In 1962 she finished second in the European championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now in Serbia). At the 1964 Games she jumped 6.76 metres (22 feet 2¹/₄ inches), despite a headwind, to take the gold. She also won a silver in the pentathlon and a bronze in the 4 × 100-metre relay. In 1966 Rand won the gold medal in the long jump at the Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. After missing the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City due to an injury, she retired later that year. Rand was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1965.