Rosemary Payne

She was born in Kelso, Scottish Borders, Scotland.

She attended Kelso High School[1] and the University of Edinburgh, completing a teaching degree.[2]

She had previously competed at the international level back to the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

At the age of 39 she competed in the 1972 Olympics. She ranked tenth in the qualification round with a distance of 55.56 m, in the final she finished 12th with a throw of 56.50 meters. Her personal best of 58.02 m dates from the same year 1972.

At age 41, she took a silver medal in the 1974 Commonwealth Games. Also in 1974, she served as the British Junior Team Manager, supervising youngsters including Steve Cram, Fatima Whitbread, Colin Jackson and Steve Backley.[3]

She competed in the 1975 World Masters Athletics Championships, showing her athletic versatility by winning gold in not only the Discus and shot put throwing events, but also in the 100 metres and high jump.

After 1978, she took a break from competing, to return ten years later at the European Veterans Championships, adding the triple jump to her repertoire. Her British W55 record of 9.12 m still stands. In all she has amassed 19 British age group records,[3] including a complete sweep of Discus records from age 35 to 80, excepting the W50 division that fell during the years she was not competing.[4] As of the start of 2014, she holds five world records.[5]

She married hammer thrower and three-time Olympian Howard Payne (1931–1992), and has affiliated with the Lozells Harriers during her career. She met partner when representing Scotland in the discus at Cardiff. They married in Birmingham on 5 February 1960.[6] She became the mother of twins.

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