Ethel Scott
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| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Great Britain
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| Women's Athletics | ||
| Women's World Games | ||
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1930 Prague | 4×100 metre relay |
Ethel Scott (1907–1984) was the first black woman to represent Great Britain in an international athletics competition. She was a sprinter active in international competitions for a brief period in the 1930s. In general, Scott's achievements are only thinly documented, and she is largely unknown to the British public and historians of sport.
While many details of Scott’s athletics career are unknown, short-distance track events such as the 60 metre sprint and the 4x100 metre relay were her specialties. She is known to have competed between 1928 and 1950, and achieved her greatest successes around 1930.
On 30 August 1930, Scott set a personal best for the 60 meters at a track meet in Mitcham, London. Her time of 7.8 seconds was 2 tenths of a second off the world record of 7.6 seconds; it equalled the current British record, which had been set in 1922 by Mary Lines. Scott is 39th on a list of the top performers in this event before 1940.
Her best time for the 100 meters was also set in 1930, although it was unconfirmed. She obtained a time of 11.1 seconds at a meet in Arras, France. If confirmed, this would have been close to a world record for the time.
Scott is believed to have competed with the Middlesex Ladies' Athletics Club; a club badge featuring the characteristic three swords motif and the initials MLAC survives amongst her memorabilia. Her club affiliation is also confirmed by a brief reference in The Times from 1930. Scott also competed in a number of athletic events organised by the Civil Service; she claimed to have won the 100m sprint sponsored by the Ministry of Labour four years in a row.
In a photograph, taken in 1929, Scott appears in her MLAC uniform surrounded by the fruits of her athletic career: at least six medals, four trophies, and other prizes including a tea set. The oldest surviving prize is a set of fish knives and forks in a box marked 'E.Scott 1st 100 yards 1928'. Her last medal is for the WAAA Relay in 1950. Many of her awards were lost when the family home was destroyed in a German air raid during 1940, including her silver medal from the Women's World Games.
The highlight of Scott's athletic career came in September 1930, when she was one of fifteen athletes chosen to represent Britain at the third Women's World Games in Prague. The Women's World Games were created by Alice Milliat as an alternative to the Olympics, which at that time included only a limited program of events for women.
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