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Marilyn Fay Neufville (born November 16, 1952) is a former Jamaican athlete who had success in the sprints between 1967 to 1971. Neufville broke the world record in the 400 m and won four gold medals and one bronze in various regional championships. Born in Jamaica,she emigrated at eight years old to Great Britain.
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Marilyn gained three Women's AAA titles as a junior in the 100 yds and 150 yds in the under 15s category in 1967 and won the 220 yds in the under 17 category in 1968. In 1969, she was second at the Women's AAA Championships behind Dorothy Hyman in the 200m, where she ran 24.3seconds. Marilyn first appeared on the international scene in September 1969, when she ran the 4x400m in a Great Britain v West Germany match in Hamburg. In March 1970, she competed for Great Britain in the European Indoor Athletics Championships and won gold over 400 m in 53.01, breaking her outdoor PB of 54.2 and the world indoor record, as well as the UK National Junior Indoor Record which still stands to this day. Later in 1970, she won the WAAA outdoor title at the same distance in 52.6.
In the summer, before the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh Marilyn chose to represent her country of birth, Jamaica over her country of residence. This caused wide controversy with many members of the British public saying she had betrayed where she was trained and considered her switch like treason. At the Commonwealth Games Neufville established a new world record by improving the preceding mark previously held by the Frenchwomen Colette Besson and Nicole Duclos with 51.0 (electronically timed as 51.02)at the age of 17. This made her the first and so far only Jamaican female athlete to break an outdoor world record. In 1970, she gained more recognition at ISTAF athletics meet in Berlin then at the AAA championships running 52.6 in front of Germany’s Christel Frese and Inge Eckhoff. In 1971, in the indoor AAA championships, Marilyn was beaten by Jannette Champion which reversed the result of the previous year. The same year, in the Pan-American Championships in Cali, she gained her third gold medal and bronze in the 4 X 400 m. At the 1971 Central American and Caribbean Championships she won a fourth gold medal. Her successes earned her two Jamaica Sportswoman of the year awards in 1970 and 1971. After battling with injuries Marilyn returned at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games but was a shadow of her former self only finishing sixth in the 400m final. In the 1976 Summer Olympics Neufville made her Olympic debut finishing fourth in her heat but had to pull out of her round 2 heat through injury. There is almost no doubt that Marilyn Neufville never reached her full potential as an athlete.
1970 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Vienna, Austria
1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland
1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand
1971 Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia
1971 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics in Kingston, Jamaica
This article results partially from a translation of the article from French Wikipedia:Marilyn Neufville
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