Jump to content

Diane Leather

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Diane Leather Charles)

Diane Leather
Personal information
Full nameDiane Susan Leather Charles
Born(1933-01-07)7 January 1933
Streetly, Staffordshire, England
Died5 September 2018(2018-09-05) (aged 85)
Truro, Cornwall, England
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Great Britain
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 1954 Bern 800 metres
Silver medal – second place 1958 Stockholm 800 metres

Diane Susan Leather Charles (7 January 1933 – 5 September 2018) was an English athlete who was the first woman to run a sub-5-minute mile.[1]

Inspired to take up running aged 19 after watching the 1952 Olympic Games, within months Leather had become national cross-country champion, a title she would go on to win four times.

On the track, she first came to prominence as part of a team that broke the world record for the 3 x 880 yard relay. Then on only her second attempt at running the mile, she broke the world record. The following year, having lost the record to Romanian athlete Edith Treybal, she reclaimed the record in a time of 5:00.2, then in the same week lowered it to 4:59.6, the first woman ever to break five minutes. Leather broke the record five times in total, taking it to 4:45 by the end of 1955, a mark which stood until 1962.

Leather's record in major championships was hampered by the lack of events available to women. There were no women's events over 200m in the Olympic Games between 1928 and 1960, and the 1500m was not introduced to the women's programme until 1972. Leather represented Great Britain in the European Athletics Championships in 1954 and 1958. She won silver in the 800m on both occasions. By the time the 800m was introduced to the Olympics in 1960, Leather, by then known as Diane Charles through marriage, was no longer British number one, and was eliminated in the heats.

Early life

[edit]

Leather was born in Streetly, Staffordshire.[2] She was one of six children, and the only daughter, of Mabel (née Barringer) and James Leather, a surgeon.[2] She played lacrosse as a child, and watching the 1952 Summer Olympics sparked her interest in athletics.[3] While studying chemistry at the Birmingham College of Technology (now Aston University), she joined the Birchfield Harriers athletics club in Birmingham and was coached by Doris Nelson Neal.[4] She later worked as an analytical chemist at the University of Birmingham.[5]

Running was initially a way for her to maintain her fitness for playing hockey.[6]

Athletic career

[edit]

Leather was coached by Dorette Neal, a long-serving secretary of the Midland Counties WAAA.[7] Neal saw that Leather had the potential to perform well in longer races, however at the time the longest recognised event in women's athletics was the 200-metre race. This limit had been adopted after false media reports that six women collapsed at the finish line in an 800-metre race at the 1928 Olympics.[8][9][10] Nevertheless, Neal coached Leather for racing middle distance.

Leather's maiden cross-country season was an immediate success. She went into the 1953 national championships having won every race she had entered,[11] including the national junior cross-country title,[12] and the Midland Championships.[13] The nationals were held over two and a half miles at Woodgate Valley Country Park outside Birmingham. Leather led from start to finish, and won by a 76 second margin, making her national champion not long after turning 20, having only taken up the sport a few months before.[11] Her club Birchfield Harriers won the team prize with ease, all four of their scoring runners finishing in the top twenty.[11]

In the track season, Leather collected regional titles at 880 yards (Staffordshire), and 800 metres (Midlands).[14] At national level, she placed third over 880 yards at the AAA Championships. Leather gained a niche world record in August 1953. In a Great Britain v France meeting at White City, Leather anchored Great Britain "B" in a 3 x 880 yard relay. Leather maintained a lead over Great Britain "A" throughout her leg to bring her team home in a world record 6 minutes 49 seconds. [15] The same teams contested a rematch in September, but on this occasion Leather was unable to overhaul individual world record holder Valerie Winn in the home straight, with both teams falling short of the record.[16]

Also in September, shortly after fellow Briton Anne Oliver set a world's best for the mile of 5:08, Leather tackled the distance, for only the second time. Taking the lead just before passing halfway in 2:37.8, Leather upped the pace to move well ahead of the field and gain the world best with 5:02.6, eight seconds clear of Enid Harding.[17] Her achievement was labelled "world best" rather than "world record" by the IAAF as the distance was not officially recognised for women for a further 15 years. The nature of the race, with the second half much quicker than the first, led the Athletics Weekly correspondent to write "it seems obvious that this girl could beat five minutes for the distance if she had any real opposition".[17] Leather only held the world mark until November, when Edith Treybal posted a time of 5:00.3.[18]

Leather had a strong cross-country season in 1954. She retained her Midland title, took an emphatic victory in the English national championship at Aylesbury, and took first place in an England v Scotland international meeting at Perry Barr. [19]

Carrying her form into the track season, Leather made an attempt at the mile record at a Birchfield Harriers hosted meeting on 26 May 1954. Leading the race throughout, Leather was behind record pace for the first three laps, but ran the last lap in 71.6 seconds to record a world best of 5:00.2,[20] nearly 36 seconds clear of the field and a tenth of a second under Treybal's record. Three days later Leather competed in the Midlands Women's AAA Championships at Birmingham's Alexander Sports Ground. In the 800m, Leather battled for position with Loakes of Kettering until pulling clear with 200m to go, and set a British all-comers record of 2:14.1.[20] Having secured the 800m win, Leather decided to "have a go" at the mile race, which took place less than an hour later.[20] Leather broke the 5-minute mile barrier with a time of 4 minutes and 59.6 seconds.[21][22] The record came despite a very uneven pace; her second lap was nearly ten seconds slower than her first.[20] Coincidentally, it was only 23 days since Roger Bannister had become the first man to run a sub 4-minute mile, 100 km away. In 1955, Leather broke the mile record by a further 15 seconds, achieving her personal best of 4:45.[23] This remained the world record for seven years until New Zealand's Marise Chamberlain ran 4:41.4 in 1962.[3] The feat garnered relatively little attention; at the time the Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) had a rule prohibiting publicity pictures for their athletes, an approach advocated by Leather's coach Dorette Nelson Neal.[5] According to the Daily Mirror, Leather's reaction to breaking the record was to say "Thank goodness that's over. Now I can concentrate on my chemistry exams". [24]

In July a Leather-anchored England and Wales team again broke the world record for the 3 x 880 yard relay, clocking 6:46 in a England and Wales vs Scotland and Ireland competition.[25] However, the record lasted only four days until it was broken by Hungary in 6:36.2.[26]

Leather was selected in the Great Britain team for the 1954 European Championships in Bern, to compete in the 800 metres. Though Leather had great prowess at longer distances, this was not an option; 800 metres was the longest distance event in the women's programme. Leather came through her heat in second place, a tenth of a second behind Soviet Lyudmila Lysenko in 2:08.9.[27] In the final, Leather initially hung back to avoid jostling in the early stages. An opening lap of 66 seconds left her with too much work to do to have a chance of catching Nina Otkalenko, but she came through the field to claim silver in 2:09.8, one second behind the Soviet.[27]

Further international competition came in October in the form of matches for the Great Britain women's team against Hungary in Budapest, and Czechoslovakia in Ostrava, held back to back in the same week. Leather won the 800m in both, despite border and transport delays meaning the team did not arrive in Ostrava until 1:30 a.m. on the day of competition. She also formed part of a 3 x 800m relay team that, though defeated by Hungary, set a British record.[28]

Another international match at White City billed as "London v Moscow" saw Leather go up against two of her foes from the European Championship final, Lysenko and Otkalenko, in the 880 yards. Leather passed leader Lysenko on the final bend, only to see Otkalenko pass them both on the home straight, for a repeat of the result in Bern.[29]

Third consecutive Midland and National cross-country titles were secured in the 1955 season. The nationals were held in Leeds, on a snow-covered two and a half mile course. On this occasion, Leather's winning margin was 30 seconds.[30] A fortnight later, Leather added an easy win in the England v Scotland international.[31]

In May 1955, Leather further improved her mile world record to 4:50.8, in a race where the top three all broke 5 minutes.[32] She entered four events in the Midland Championships, winning the 440 yards, 880 yards and mile, and won her second 880 yard national title in 2:09.7, just outside the world record.record.[33]

The 1956 Midland Cross-Country Championships saw Leather win a record equalling fourth consecutive title, though the race was closer than her previous victories, as Coventry Godiva's Roma Ashby was only five seconds back.[34] She also took a fourth consecutive title in the following month's national championships at Sutton Coldfield, by a 50 yard margin from 1952 winner Phyllis Perkins.[35]

Leather's 1956 track season was disrupted by illness and injury. She won the AAA mile title, but only required a time of 5:01 to do so.[36]

Leather won a fifth Midland Cross-Country title in 1957, pulling away from Roma Ashby in the final 400m to win by seven seconds.[37] However, her reign in the national championship was brought to an end, as she finished third behind June Bridgland and Ashby.

In an event at Hornchurch in May 1957, Leather set a new world best of 4:30.0 for 1500m, more than five seconds quicker than the previous record set by Phyllis Perkins.[38] At the 1957 AAA Championships, Leather became national champion at both 880 yards and the mile. This double of middle-distance events went unmatched by any woman for 39 years, until Kelly Holmes won the 800m and 1500m in 1996. [39] The same year, Leather also set a world's best at 1500m, in 4 minutes 30 seconds.[40] In August, at a Great Britain v USSR international match, Leather beat Yelizaveta Yermolayeva and Nina Otkalenko in the 800m, setting a new British record of 2:06.8.[41]

At the 1958 European Athletics Championships in Stockholm, Leather won her heat, coming through on the final straight to finish 0.2 seconds ahead of Dzidra Levitska of the Soviet Union in 2:09.8, making her the fastest qualifier.[42]

In the final the Soviet trio of Levitska, Yelizaveta Yermolayeva and Vera Mukhanova took control of the race. At the bell, Leather was in last place. She came through the field, passing Levitska on the line to win silver, 0.3 seconds behind Yermolayeva in 2:06.6.[43]

Leather was also a two-time winner of the women's race at the International Cross Country Championships in 1954 and 1955, and won the national cross country women's title four times.[3][44]

She married Peter Charles, an industrial engineer turned financial consultant whom she first met as a student, in 1959.[2] In the 1960 Women's A.A.A. Championships, Diane Charles placed third in the 880 yards, one and a half seconds behind winner Joy Jordan, and second in the mile, four seconds down on Roma Ashby. [45] Charles competed in her final competition, the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, where the women's 800m was contested for the first time since 1928.[46][4] She captained the Great Britain women's team,seconds.[47] but was eliminated in the heats of the 800 metres, in 2:14.24. She held the British record for 1500m for 11 years and held claim to the world mark in the mile for 8 years in total.

After Diane's competitive career was over, the Charles family maintained links with the sport. Diane looked after the infant child of long jump world record holder Mary Rand while Rand was away at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.[48] Her husband Peter later gave financial advice and assistance to Daley Thompson ahead of his first Olympic Games in 1980.[49]

Leather's achievements have gained more recognition in recent years. A trophy at the Westminster Mile race is now named after her.[5]

Personal life

[edit]

Charles retired from athletics at the age of 27 and had her first child the following year.[18] After gaining a social work diploma,[18] lived in Cornwall for the remainder of her life.[3] She worked for child protection agencies, fostered children and was a volunteer for Cruse Bereavement Care and Samaritans.[2] She was married for more than 55 years—her husband died in 2017[4]—and had four children and 13 grandchildren. [50] She died on 5 September 2018,[2] aged 85,[1][50] in Truro, Cornwall. She had recently suffered a stroke.[4] Among the mourners to pay their respects at Penmount Crematorium in Truro were double Olympic decathlon champion Daley Thompson, and karate world champion Geoff Thompson.[51]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Mile legend Diane Leather dies - Athletics Weekly". Athletics Weekly. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e Diane Leather obituary The Guardian
  3. ^ a b c d "A pioneer of women's running and the first female to run a sub-five-minute mile,I Diane Leather, has died - Runner's World". www.runnersworld.co.uk. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Smith, Harrison (13 September 2018). "Diane Leather, first woman to run a mile in under five minutes, dies at 85". The Washington Post.
  5. ^ a b c Ingle, Sean (25 May 2014). "Sixty years ago Diane Leather smashed world record but not sex barrier | Sean Ingle". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  6. ^ Jeremy Alexander and Neil Robinson (7 May 1994). "A case of hell for Leather in the shadow of Bannister". The Guardian.
  7. ^ "Mrs Dorette Neal". The Times. 20 October 1982.
  8. ^ ""Eleven Wretched Women"". Runner's World. 14 May 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  9. ^ Jobling, Ian (2006). "The Women's 800 Metres Track Event Post 1928: Quo Vadis?"" (PDF). Journal of Olympic History. 14 (1): 43–47 – via International Society of Olympic Historians.
  10. ^ Padnani, Amisha (12 September 2018). "Diane Leather, 85, First Woman to Run Mile in Under 5 Minutes, Dies". Obituaries. The New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  11. ^ a b c "Women's National Cross-Country Championship". Athletics Weekly. 21 March 1953. p. 2.
  12. ^ "Women's Junior National CC Championship". Athletics Weekly. 31 January 1953. p. 12.
  13. ^ "Midland Women's Cross-Country Championship". Athletics Weekly. 7 March 1953. p. 15-16.
  14. ^ "County Championships". Athletics Weekly. 27 June 1953. p. 5.
  15. ^ "Fine running at White City". The Times. 4 August 1953.
  16. ^ "London beat Stockholm". Athletics Weekly. 3 October 1953. p. 6.
  17. ^ a b "Britain beat Netherlands". Athletics Weekly. 10 October 1953. p. 6-9.
  18. ^ a b c Kelly, Kevin (14 May 2006). "Scan This Book!". New York Times Magazine. Archived from the original on 10 December 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2008.
  19. ^ "Cross-Country Running". The Times. 22 March 1954.
  20. ^ a b c d "Gallant failure of Diane Leather, then success". Athletics Weekly. June 1954. p. 16.
  21. ^ "Athletics photographic encyclopedia, athlete, olympic games, world championship, european championship & hero images by". Sporting-heroes.net. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  22. ^ "50 Years Ago Roger Bannister Became a Sporting Legend with his Four Minute Mile : Why is his Female Equivalent Just Seen as an Also Ran ?". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  23. ^ Sears, Edward Seldon (2001). "The Modern Superstars (1950-2000)". Running Through the Ages. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 283. ISBN 9780786409716.
  24. ^ "Diane Leather: the other miracle mile". The Athletics Museum. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  25. ^ "England and Wales beat Scotland and Ireland". Athletics Weekly. 29 July 1954. p. 13.
  26. ^ "International Amateur Athletic Federation - World Records". Athletics Weekly. 12 February 1955. p. 7.
  27. ^ a b "The European Championships". Athletics Weekly. 4 September 1954. p. 5-12.
  28. ^ "Our Magnificent Women Athletes Beat Hungary and Czechoslovakia". Athletics Weekly. 16 October 1954. p. 10-11.
  29. ^ "Moscow 103 pts London 57 pts". Athletics Weekly. 23 October 1954. p. 7-8.
  30. ^ "Diane Leather Wins National C.C. Title". Athletics Weekly. 19 March 1955. p. 12.
  31. ^ "England's Easy Win in C.C. International". Athletics Weekly. 2 April 1955. p. 11.
  32. ^ "Cavalcade of Sport". Athletics Weekly. 25 June 1955. p. 16.
  33. ^ "W.A.A.A. Championships". Athletics Weekly. 9 July 1955. p. 6.
  34. ^ "Midland Championship". Athletics Weekly. 25 February 1956. p. 16.
  35. ^ "Women's National C.C. Championship". Athletics Weekly. 10 March 1956. p. 5.
  36. ^ "Women's A.A.A. Championships". Athletics Weekly. 18 August 1956. p. 13-16.
  37. ^ "Midland Cross-Country Championships". Athletics Weekly. 23 February 1957. p. 6.
  38. ^ "World Best in Women's 1500 Metres". Athletics Weekly. 1 June 1957. p. 10.
  39. ^ David Powell (17 June 1996). "Ladejo takes the shine off Black's golden day". The Times.
  40. ^ Jessica Shepherd (23 May 2004). "4 mins 59.6secs The time a land forgot; 50 YEARS SINCE WOMEN'S MILE RECORD". Sunday Mercury.
  41. ^ "U.S.S.R.- 119 pts. GT. BRITAIN 93 pts. (Men) U.S.S.R. 73pts. GT. BRITAIN 40pts. (Women)". Athletics Weekly. 31 August 1957. p. 11.
  42. ^ "Women's 800 Metres". Athletics Weekly. 6 September 1958. p. 19.
  43. ^ "Women's 800 Metres (final)". Athletics Weekly. 13 September 1958. p. 19.
  44. ^ International Cross Country Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 3 April 2015.
  45. ^ "Women's A.A.A. Championships". Athletics Weekly. 9 July 1960. p. 15.
  46. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Diane Charles Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  47. ^ "Leather and Bannister – the similarities and differences of two trailblazers". World Athletics. 14 December 2019.
  48. ^ Frank Keating (28 July 1979). "Caught napping by Mary the great". The Guardian.
  49. ^ Robin Lustig (28 January 1979). "Olympic hope in house cash row". The Observer.
  50. ^ a b Robinson, Roger (7 September 2018). "Diane Leather Charles, First Woman to Break 5-Minute Mile, Dies at 85". Runner's World. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  51. ^ "Record-breaker Diane Leather laid to rest in Cornwall". BBC. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
[edit]
Records
Preceded by Women's mile world record holder
30 September 1953 – 1 November 1953
26 May 1954 – 8 December 1962 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Edith Treybal
 Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diane_Leather&oldid=1250661425"