1971 Lillian Board PSA 7 Olympics Barratt & Co Famous Sportsmen #4 England

Description: This 1971 Lillian Board Olympics Barratt & Co Famous Sportsmen #4 Team England Britain PSA NM 7 is the exact item you will receive and has been certified Authentic by REM Fine Collectibles. Lillian Barbara Board, MBE (13 December 1948 – 26 December 1970) was a British athlete. She won the silver medal in the 400 metres at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and two gold medals at the 1969 European Championships in Athletics in Athens. Her career was cut short in 1970 when she developed the colorectal cancer that within months would claim her life. Nos Galan (New Year's Eve) festival, held annually in the Welsh village of Mountain Ash to commemorate the legendary Welsh runner, Guto Nyth Bran. In 1965, aged 16, Board was a member of the London Olympiades squad that won the 4 × 100 m relay title at the Women's AAA junior championships. Later that year, she showed her versatility with a career best leap of 5.80 m in the Long Jump and indoor wins over 60 yards (7.2) and 300 yards (42.0). She also lowered her 100 y best time to 10.9 and her 220 y best to 24.7. Due to age rules, Board was unable to make her debut at the 440 yds until April 1966 when, aged 17 and now a senior, she finished a close second in an inter-club meeting at Southall, London, in 58.1 seconds. She then ran 57.3 in the Southern Counties Championships, before taking fourth place in the Women's AAA senior 440 yds final in a time of 54.6, the fastest ever recorded by a 17-year-old in Europe. Meanwhile, she took a secretarial course at Chiswick Polytechnic after leaving school, and worked between training sessions as a typist. Board's performances at 400 m in the 1966 season earned her a place in the England team for the Commonwealth Games held in Kingston, Jamaica, that August. Here, after winning her 400 m heat (54.7), Board finished fifth in the final in a time of 54.7 seconds, just outside her personal best. It was a very creditable effort for a 17-year-old. Disappointingly, she was not then chosen for the Great Britain team at the European Championships in Budapest, which were held from 30 August – 4 September. However, such disappointment was short-lived as later in September, she made her Great Britain debut, achieving fourth in the 400 m (55.9) in a match against France in Lille. Board firmly announced her arrival onto the international scene when, still aged only 18, she won the 400 m race in a Commonwealth v USA match in Los Angeles, California on 9 July 1967. She came from last to first with a stunning late surge and won in a time of 52.8 seconds, the second fastest ever recorded by a European woman. The race was broadcast live on British television and made her into a household name. Winning in such style at the biggest meeting of year was clearly a turning point in her career. She followed this momentous triumph with a run of four wins at 400 m in five international events, most notably securing the only victory for Britain's women (in a time of 53.7) in the 1967 European Cup, final in Kyiv on 15 September. That season she also lowered her 200 m personal best to 24.6 and her 880 y best to 2.08.7. Recognition of a highly successful season came when she was chosen as Athlete of the Year by the Athletic Writers' Association. Board began the 1968 season by winning the 440-yard race at an inter-club meeting in Brighton, her time of 54.8 comfortably inside the Olympic qualifying standard. She then leapt to the top of the world rankings after winning over 400 m (53.5) at an international meeting in Moscow. However, at the Women's AAA championships in July, she spurned the chance of an almost certain victory in the 400 m and instead decided to contest the 800 metres. After winning her heat (2.05.7), she showed her huge potential in this event by running a superb 2:02.0 (the second fastest ever by a British woman), to finish 2nd to the reigning European 800 m champion, Vera Nikolic of Yugoslavia, whose time of 2:00.5 was a new world record. She continued her preparations for Mexico with a personal best of 23.5 when winning the 200 m in a match against West Germany in August and taking the 400 m (53.0) against Poland in September. She also anchored a British relay team to a new 4 × 110 y world record (45.0) later that month. After that excellent build-up, she went into the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City as favourite to win the 400 m gold medal. After finishing a comfortable second in her 400 m heat (53.00), she won her semi-final in a personal best 52.56. In the final itself on 16 October, she only took the lead about 100 m from the finish and maintained her advantage well down the home straight. She looked certain to win but was caught just before the line by Colette Besson of France and beaten into second place by a mere 0.09 seconds. Setting a new UK record of 52.12 had not quite been enough to win gold. Nevertheless, it was an excellent effort by a 19-year-old competing in her first Olympics. In 1969, Board began the season with a personal best 11.9 for 100 metres and a 52.9 contribution to a 4 × 400 metres world record (3:37.6), but in early July she strained ligaments in her back, forcing her to miss five weeks of the season. She returned in August with a 52.5 anchor leg in the 4 × 400 m relay to help Great Britain defeat the USA in an international match at London's White City; and then gained a modicum of 'revenge' on her Olympic nemesis, Colette Besson, when taking the 400 m (53.7) in a match against France in Middlesbrough. However, her back was still painful, more so when she ran shorter distances, so she decided to go for the 800 metres at the 1969 European Athletics Championships in Athens that September. Still inexperienced at the longer event and ranked only 8th in Europe on her performances that season, she was not strongly fancied for 800 m gold. She won her heat comfortably (2:04.2) and then, two days later, produced a superb performance in the final on 18 September sprinting away from her rivals on the final bend and winning by eight metres in a personal best time of 2:01.4, a new championship record. She was the first British woman to win this European title, the second being Lynsey Sharp in 2012. Just two days later, 20 September, Board lined up for Great Britain in the 4 × 400 m relay. Running the last leg, she came from ten metres down entering the home straight to beat her old rival Besson, who was anchoring the French squad, in a dramatic photo finish, not only winning gold for Britain but also helping to set a new world record of 3:30.8. Having claimed two gold medals, it was no surprise that she was named as 'Best Woman Athlete in the Games'. The relay team, featuring Board, Rosemary Stirling, Pat Lowe and Janet Simpson, was the first British team to win that title at the competition Board ran two-mile races early in the 1970 campaign, partly to build up stamina for the 800 m and partly with the aim of becoming the first athlete to represent Britain at all distances, the 1500 m being the only one missing from her collection. After running a solid 4:55.7 on her miling debut, she was selected for an international mile race in Rome on 16 May. Here she improved her personal best to 4:44.6, finishing second to a former mile world record holder, Paola Pigni of Italy. Her time moved her to No 2 in the UK all-time lists for the women's mile, behind only another former world record holder at the distance, Anne Smith.

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