Sheila Sherwood
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Great Britain
|
||
| Women's Athletics | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 |
1968 Mexico City | Long jump |
| British Commonwealth Games | ||
 |
1970 Edinburgh | Long jump |
Sheila Sherwood (born Sheila Hilary Parkin, 22 October 1945 in Parson Cross, Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England) is a former international long jumper whose career highlights included a silver medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, and a gold medal at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. She competed in three consecutive Summer Olympic Games (1964, 1968 and 1972) and had a career best distance of 6.73 metres.
As a child, her parents were caretaker and head cook at St Thomas More School in nearby Grenoside.
Sherwood attended Yew Lane Secondary Modern, where at the age of fifteen she was appointed as Head-Girl, and after a successful set of O-Level results, transferred to nearby Ecclesfield Grammar School to study for her A-Levels. She first came to prominence as an athlete as a 16-year-old as a member of the Sheffield-based Sheffield United Harriers athletic club and competing under her maiden name of Sheila Parkin, when 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 Sheila’s long and distinguished career as an international long jumper as it resulted in selection for the 1962 European championships in Belgrade where she finished 12th and the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Western Australia where she achieved 5th position.
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