Background
She was born in Stockwell, London.
She was born in Stockwell, London.
In 1939 she broke the world record in the high jump with 1.66m, but Germany"s Dora Ratjen broke her record quickly. Odam was suspicious of Ratjen and, according to Odam, "They wrote to me telling me I didn"t hold the record, so I wrote to them saying, "She"s not a woman, she"s a man". They did some research and found "her" serving as a waiter called Hermann Ratjen.
So I got my world record back." Odam"s world record was formally recognized by the sport"s world governing body, the IAAF, in 1957.
Odam was also twice a gold medallist at the British Empire Games, winning at Sydney in 1938 and Auckland in 1950. In 2012, she was the official starter for the London Marathon.
She died on 25 September 2014 aged 94 following a long illness.