Venissa Head

Venissa Head won the Welsh title in the shot put at the age of fifteen in 1974; this was the first of her 25 Welsh titles at the shot and discus.

She would also add the UK title but was thwarted in her attempts to win a Women’s AAA championship. In 1981 she broke the British shot put record and later became the first Briton to throw the shot over 19 metres in an indoor meeting. Her personal outdoor best was 18.93 m. A finalist in both the 1983 World Championship and 1986 European her only major international medal came in 1986 when she finished second behind Australian Gael Martin in the Commonwealth Games.

Her only appearance at the Olympic Games came in 1984 in Los Angeles where she finished 6th in the shot and 7th in the discus though competition in both events was severely depleted by the Eastern Bloc boycott. Despite being top ranked Briton in the shot in 1988 she was not selected for Seoul and Head retired shortly afterwards due to persistent hand and wrist problems. Her twin sister Vivienne was also Welsh champion in the shot.

Personal Bests: SP – 19.06i (1984); DT – 64.68 (1983).