Pat Pryce-Nutting

Born as Patricia Nutting, she spent a large part of her athletics career competing as Pat Pryce-Nutting after her marriage at the end of the 1963 season to Frederick Pryce. A Middlesex typist, Nutting was coached by Fred Housden, the man responsible for coaching David Hemery. Nutting went to three Olympics (1960-68), competing in the 80 metres hurdles each time. Her best performance was at the 1964 Tokyo Games when she narrowly missed out on a place in the final after finishing fifth in her semi-final, despite being credited with the same time as the fourth-placed qualifier. Nutting also appeared at the 1962 Perth (Australia) and 1966 Kingston (Jamaica) British Empire and Commonwealth Games but failed to medal having reached the 80 metres final in both years. Her best finish was fourth at Perth, when she was one of three English women in the final.

Despite being a prominent hurdler, Nutting also took part in the WAAA long jump and was the Southern Counties pentathlon champion. It was as a hurdler, however, that she excelled at the shorter distances, and between 1958-72 she won a record 14 medals over 80, 100, and 200 metres including eight golds. Nutting won all three titles in 1963.

Nutting´s victory in the WAAA 200 metres at the White City in 1963 was one of those bizarre athletics moments. During her morning heat, Nutting gave up by complaining that the hurdles were incorrectly placed. The referee agreed and ordered a re-run that afternoon. The runners felt, however, that to run a second heat and final on the waterlogged track on the same day was too much. As a result, the officials made the decision to put together a composite result based on times recorded over the two heats. Despite not finishing her first heat, Nutting was the fastest in the re-run and subsequently declared the Championship winner. She therefore retained her title.

Personal Best: 80H – 10.75 (1964).