Sheila Lerwill


Sheila Lerwill is a British athlete who competed mainly in the high jump.
She broke the World record for women's high jump on 7 July 1951 in London with a jump of 1.72 meters, beating the previous record of 1.71 meters set by Fanny Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands on 30 May 1943 in Amsterdam. The record was broken on 22 May 1954 by Aleksandra Chudina of the USSR in Kiev with a jump of 1.73 meters. She competed for Great Britain in the high jump at the 1952 Summer Olympics, held in Helsinki, Finland, where she won the silver medal with a jump of 1.65 metres. It was Britain's best athletics medal at the games.