Debbie Brill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Debbie Brill OC (born March 10, 1953 in Mission, British Columbia) is a Canadian high jump athlete who was the first North American woman to clear 6 feet, at age 16. Her unique reverse jumping style was called the "Brill Bend". She is an eleven-time national champion of Canada.

Debbie has held the Canadian National High Jump record, both indoor (1.99 meters - 6' 6 1/2 ") and outdoor (1.98 meters - 6' 6"), since 1969, establishing her first Canadian High Jump record when she was 16 years old. Her Canadian High Jump records remain unbroken. She was ranked in the top 8 female jumpers in the world for 12 years in a career that spanned 21 years, from 1967-1988.

In 1979 Debbie won a gold medal in the World Cup athletics championship (the precursor to the World Athletics Championships) held in Montreal, Canada.

Debbie was ranked number one in the world going into the 1980 Olympics which Canada boycotted because of the U.S.S.R.'s military involvement in Afghanistan.

In January 1982 Debbie established a World Indoor High Jump record of 1.99 meters in Edmonton, Alberta, 5 months after giving birth to her first son, Neil. She has a daughter, Katelin, and a son, Jacob. She is married to a physician, Dr. Douglas Coleman.

In 1983, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

[edit] Achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result	Event
1970	Commonwealth Games	Edinburgh, Scotland	1st	High Jump
1971	Pan American Games	Cali, Colombia	1st	High Jump
1972	Olympic Games	Munich, West Germany	6th	High Jump
1978	Commonwealth Games	Edmonton, Canada	2nd	High Jump
1979	Pan American Games	San Juan, Puerto Rico	3rd	High Jump
1982	Commonwealth Games	Brisbane, Australia	1st	High Jump
1983	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	6th	High Jump
1984	Olympic Games	Los Angeles, California	5th	High Jump

[edit] References

Sporting positions
Preceded by Louise Ritter	USA National High Jump Champion 1979	Succeeded by Coleen Rienstra
Preceded by Pamela Spencer	USA National High Jump Champion 1982	Succeeded by Louise Ritter