Marion Wharton

Originally, Great Britain was not sending a gymnastics team to the 1936 Berlin Olympics but just five weeks before the scheduled start of the competition, they decided to send a women’s team and hastily arranged trials at Stamford Hill, London. Bradford confectioner shop manageress Marion Wharton was a member of the 8-strong squad and, like teammate Edna Gross, went to the Games as a newlywed.

It was a daunting task for Wharton and the British team whose routine in Berlin was disrupted by an unruly crowd dissenting at some poor judging decisions, and Great Britain finished last of eight. Wharton died in 1993 and, following the death of her husband nine years later, a suitcase was found in the loft of their house at Pudsey, West Yorkshire. In it was a trove of memorabilia from the 1936 Olympics, which nobody knew existed.