Karen Anderson-Oldham

Karen Anderson competed at the 1955 Pan American Games and 1956 Olympic Games while she was still a high school student. At the PanAms she won the gold medal in the javelin throw. She was a three-time AAU Champion with the spear, winning in 1954-56. Anderson set four American records with the javelin, in 1955, 1956, and twice in 1960. She attended the University of Pennsylvania but did not compete there. Anderson-Oldham won the US Olympic Trials with the javelin in 1956 and 1960.

Anderson-Oldham later became quite a good golfer, tying for second at the 1996 US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, after placing third in the same event in 1995. That put her on the US team that won the 1996 Senior Women’s International Team Championships in Belgium. She was a seven-time Akron city golf champion. Anderson-Oldham married an Akron attorney, Ned Oldham. She also volunteered with developmentally disabled children, and helped the Akron YMCA with its gym programs, in addition to serving as a deacon and ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church of Akron.

Personal Best: JT – 50.62 (1960)