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Mary Peters' Win
Lady Mary Peters won the women’s pentathlon at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Back to 1970sLady Mary Peters won the women’s pentathlon at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Mary Peters was a qualified teacher with a passion for athletics. She had to travel with her shot put and starting blocks on two buses into bomb-stricken Belfast to train on a neglected track at Queen’s University. However, her efforts proved worthwhile as, in the summer of 1972, she travelled to the Munich Olympics where she became the only British athlete to win gold, beating local favourite Heide Rosendahl by just 10 points.
Her victory set a new world record for the five events of the pentathlon: the 100m hurdles, 200m race, shot put, high jump and long jump.
Image credit: courtesy of Belfast Telegraph