1. Ann Elizabeth Packer MBE was born on 8 March 1942 and is an English former sprinter, hurdler and long jumper.
14 Facts About Ann Packer
1. 2.
Ann Packer won a gold medal in the 800 metres and a silver in the 400 metres at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
3.
In 1959 Packer won the English Schools 100 yards title.
4.
When she was selected for the 1964 British Olympic team Ann Packer worked as a physical education teacher at Coombe County Girls' School, New Malden, Surrey.
5.
Ann Packer was hoping to win the 400 metres, but was beaten into second place by Betty Cuthbert of Australia, despite setting a new European record at 52.20 seconds.
6.
Disappointed, Packer planned to skip the 800 m event and have a shopping trip instead, until her fiance, Robbie Brightwell persuaded her to compete.
7.
Ann Packer thus started the final the second slowest of the eight contestants, having raced at the distance only seven times before.
8.
Ann Packer began her sprint to the finish with about 150 m to go, moved up to third at 100 m and took the lead in the final straight, using her sprinting speed to take the gold.
9.
Ann Packer broke the world record with a time of 2:01.1 minutes.
10.
Ann Packer was widowed following Robbie's death in March 2022.
11.
In 2009, Ann Packer was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame.
12.
Ann Packer was coached by Denis Watts and was a member of Reading Athletic Club when she was selected for the British Olympic team.
13.
In 1966 Ann Packer appeared in an experiment for the BBC TV history programme, Chronicle to see how far geese could walk in a day.
14.
Ann Packer was chosen because however far the geese went, she would still be with them at the end.