Why golden girl Mary still feels on top of the world

She has had a great life on which to reflect, but Dame Mary Peters tells Victor Gordon she has a lot to look forward to

Belfast Telegraph Monday, 31 December 2007

Dame Mary Peters would have been a millionaire today had she won her Olympic gold medal in recent years instead of at Munich in 1972 when athletics were strictly amateur. But it doesn't cost her a thought.

"I'm comfortable and happy with the life I'm leading," said Dame Mary. "I don't envy athletes of today with all that money and pressure."

The fulcrum of her life was when she won gold in the pentathlon, beating hot favourite Heide Rosendahl (West Germany) by a paper-thin 10 points. She amassed a world record 4,801 points with personal bests in all five events - the 100m hurdles, shot putt, high jump, long jump and 200 metres.

Mementoes of that special day adorn her home - a painting by Raymond Piper of young Mary in her British track suit, a framed copy of the Belfast Telegraph full-page report on the great event, a stop-watch owned by her coach and driving force Buster McShane, pictures of her moment of triumph and, her pride-and-joy, a mock Olympic torch that tickles her impish sense of humour and burns with an artificial silken flame at the flick of a switch.

"The gold medal is not on show," Mary said. "It remains locked in the vault at the bank."

Students at PortadownCollege at the same time as Mary knew she was destined for greatness. She was head girl (1957), captain of hockey and athletics, house captain of McCallum, and held as many school and Northern Irish records as would fill a book.

" Headmaster Donald Woodman was my early mentor," said Mary, who made it to the Co Armagh town via her home town of Liverpool and Ballymena. "He introduced me to athletics when he banished me from the boys' cricket practice to run, throw and jump with the new PE man Kenneth McClelland."

Her initial career was as a domestic science teacher. She qualified from Belfast Tech and taught the young ladies of GrayhillGirlsSecondary School.

Her first major event was the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff (1958) where she competed in the shot putt, high jump and 4x100m relay.

Then came the most significant move of her athletic life when coach Buster McShane wrote to all the NI athletes from Cardiff and Mary responded.

After she competed at the shot-putt in the European Games in Belgrade (a commendable 4th place) Buster decided his protégé wasn't heavy enough for field event or fast enough for the track, so they rationalised. Enter Mary Peters, pentathlete. It paid off handsomely. Mary was fourth in the 1964 Olympics (Tokyo).

Her first international medal came in the 1966 Commonwealth Games - a silver when she was narrowly beaten by a New Zealander in Jamaica.

The Mexican Olympics (1968) were a disappointment with 9th place, but the EdmontonCommonwealth Games (1970) constituted the breakthrough with gold in shot and pentathlon.

" I was team captain in Mexico and took those responsibilities much too seriously," Mary said. "My own performance suffered."

She didn't make the same mistake again, and landed Olympic Gold in Munich 1972.

She landed a Churchill Fellowship that enabled her to train in California pre-Munich - "with unbelievable facilities, and that tipped the balance".

"I went into the Olympics in the best condition ever," said Mary. "Heide's best events were on the second day - the long jump and 200m - and I just squeezed home."

Memories veered from ecstasy to horror and back - Mary's dad turning up unannounced from Australia where he lived; the horrific slaughter of the Israeli athletes; going home to a death threat from some nutter back in Northern Ireland; and the day that Belfast erupted in utter joy as their Golden Girl and Buster nudged their way through the city on the victory vehicle.

The heartache was unbearable six months later when Buster was killed in a car crash. "It was so cruel after what we'd been through," said Mary.

She felt like giving up, but there was work to be done with the prospect of creating a proper running track for Belfast, and thus was conceived 'The Mary Peters Track'.

"In order to give it the oxygen of publicity, I decided to have a final crack at the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, 1974," said Mary, "and with the help of friends, I gained my final gold."

The money poured in and Mary was able to mastermind a six-lane track.

Mary could soon be on the fund-raising warpath again as she strides to bring the World Police Games here in 2013, having seen them in Australia, where brother John and family live.

"That means expanding the track to eight lanes. It would mean 57 sports and 15,000 visitors," Mary added.

Nowadays the Olympic champion is as fit as ever, trains regularly and is slimmer than in that golden year of 1972. Not bad for a woman who qualifies for a bus pass.

"My motto is 'Next Year is My Year'," said Dame Mary.

.

Mr Woodman was so proud of his Golden Girl