Remarkable Rosemary threw the discus at the Olympics and two Commonwealth Games
Rosemary Chrimes (formerly Payne) who lives at Ryland Place, a Retirement Living PLUS community for the over 70s in Edgbaston, the West Midlands, enjoyed an extremely successful athletics career, representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games and the UK in the Olympics. At the time, all athletes were amateurs and so as well as this success, she worked full time in education. Incredibly, she says she became an athlete by accident!“My older sister married a vet, who just happened to be a discus thrower. I’d always been a very lively and athletic person, and he was the one who told me to go to university and join the discus team, so I did. The next thing you know I’m winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970!
“I also got to experience representing the United Kingdom at the Olympics in 1972 when the games were in Munich. Unfortunately, it was a tragic Games and one that no one will forget, but the experience of being part of an Olympic team is one I’ll always remember.”
That wasn’t the end of Rosemary’s sporting journey though, as she went on to win silver at the Christchurch Commonwealth Games in 1974. Once she retired, she turned to coaching, and began managing up-and-coming junior stars. Alongside her coaching, Rosemary also took part in Masters Athletics, which pitted the more experienced athletes against each other.
Rosemary said: “I didn’t know about Masters Athletics until I had retired and I had such great fun with it. I’d turn up to events and there would be people competing that I was competing against 20 years ago, it always made me feel nostalgic. I still keep up with the athletics now, and love to see some of those I’ve trained doing so well.”
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