Sheila Sherwood is a former international long jumper whose career highlights included a silver medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, and a gold medal at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.
Education
Sherwood attended Yew Lane Secondary Modern, where at the age of fifteen she was appointed as Head-Girl, and after a successful set of O-Level results, transferred to nearby Ecclesfield Grammar School to study for her A-Levels. On the strength of this she was selected to represent Great Britain against Poland in August 1962 where she finished second behind former world record holder Elzbieta Krzensinska by just 2 cm.
Career
She competed in three consecutive Summer Olympic Games (1964, 1968 and 1972) and had a career best distance of 6.73 metres. Sheila’s early career saw only a slight improvement in her jumping, she was eclipsed by fellow British jumper Mary Rand on many occasions. Rand took the gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games where Sheila only finished 13th.
However, it was in Tokyo that Sheila met British hurdler John Sherwood and a romance began that was to result in marriage three years later.
Sheila’s relationship with John coincided with a marked improvement in her jumping performances. She took the silver medal at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica behind Rand and at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City she took the silver medal behind the Romanian Viorica Viscopoleanu with a personal best leap of 6.68 metres.
In the mid-1970s Sheila along with husband John helped form the breakaway Sheffield Athletic Club, which then amalgamated with Sheffield United Harriers to form Sheffield City Athletic Club. The club later changed its name to the City of Sheffield Athletic Club.
Sheila is the mother of British international tennis player David Sherwood who was born in 1980.
Membership
She first came to prominence as an athlete as a 16-year-old as a member of the Sheffield-based Sheffield United Harriers athletic club and competing under her maiden name of Sheila Parkin, when she created an English Schools long jump record in the summer of 1962.