 Peters in 2008 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Mary Elizabeth Peters |
| Nationality | British |
| Born | (1939-07-06)6 July 1939 (age 86) |
Medal record | |
Lady Mary Elizabeth Peters (born 6 July 1939) is aNorthern Irish formerathlete and athletics administrator. She is best known as the 1972Olympic champion in thepentathlon, for which she won theBBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. Peters was named as Lady Companion of theOrder of the Garter on 27 February 2019. She was installed inSt. George's Chapel, the chapel of the Order, on Garter Day, 17 June.
Peters was born inHalewood,Liverpool and attended HuntsCross primary school, later living at 5 Mere Avenue inAlkrington, where she went to primary school.[1][2]
She moved toBallymena (and laterBelfast) at the age of eleven when her father's job was relocated to Northern Ireland.[3] As a teenager, her father encouraged her athletic career by building her home practice facilities as birthday gifts. She qualified as a teacher and worked while training.
After Ballymena, the family moved toPortadown where she attendedPortadown College. The headmaster Donald Woodman and the PE teacher Kenneth McClelland introduced her to athletics, McClelland being her first coach. She was head girl of the school in 1956.
In the1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Peters competing forGreat Britain and Northern Ireland and won the gold medal in the women'spentathlon. She had finished 4th in1964 and 9th in1968. To win the gold medal, she narrowly beat the local favourite, West Germany'sHeide Rosendahl, by 10 points, setting a world record score. After her victory, a death threat was phoned into theBBC by a man with an Irish accent: "Mary Peters is a Protestant and has won a medal for Britain. An attempt will be made on her life and it will be blamed on the IRA ... Her home will be going up in the near future." But Peters insisted she would return home to Belfast. She was greeted by fans and a band at the airport and paraded through the city streets, but was not allowed back in her flat for three months. Turning down jobs in the US and Australia, where her father lived, she insisted on remaining in Northern Ireland.[3]
In 1972, Peters won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award: "Peters, a 33-year-old secretary from Belfast, won Britain's only athletics gold at the Munich Olympics. The pentathlon competition was decided on the final event, the 200m, and Peters claimed the title by one-tenth of a second."[4]
She represented Northern Ireland at everyCommonwealth Games between 1958 and 1974. In these games she won two gold medals for thepentathlon, plus a gold and silver medal for theshot put.
Peters became a Trustee of TheOutward Bound Trust in May 2001 and is vice-president of the Northern Ireland Outward Bound Association. She is also Patron of Springhill Hospice inRochdale,Greater Manchester. She now lives inDerriaghy, within theLisburn and Castlereagh district, just outside Belfast.[5]
Peters established a charitable Sports Trust in 1975 (now known as the Mary Peters Trust) to support talented young sportsmen and -women, both able-bodied and disabled, from across Northern Ireland in a financial and advisory capacity. The trust has made a large number of awards, and has a list of well-known alumni that includesGraeme McDowell,Rory McIlroy,Jonathan Rea,Darren Clarke,David Humphreys,Bethany Firth,Ryan Burnett,Carl Frampton,Paddy Barnes,Michael Conlan,Kelly Gallagher andMichael McKillop.
In May 2025, Peters said she was thrilled that her Trust had been assisting young sports people for more than 50 years.[6]
Peters was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to athletics in the1973 New Year Honours.[7] For services to sport, she was promoted in the same Order toCommander (CBE) in the1990 Birthday Honours[8] and again toDame Commander (DBE) in the2000 Birthday Honours.[9] In the2015 New Year Honours, she was awarded asMember of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH), also for services to sport and the community in Northern Ireland,[10][11] and in 2017, she was made aDame of the Order of Saint John (DStJ).[12] Peters was appointed aLady Companion of the Order of the Garter (LG) on 27 February 2019, and therefore granted the titleLady.[13] She represented the Order at the2023 coronation.[14]
Northern Ireland's premier athletics track, on the outskirts of Belfast, is named after her. A statue of her stands within it.[15]
In April 2009 she was named theLord Lieutenant of theCity of Belfast;[16] she retired from the post in 2014, being succeeded byFionnuala Jay-O'Boyle.[17] Peters is a Freeman of the Cities of Lisburn[18] and Belfast.[19]
On 1 August 2012, Peters was made anHonoraryCaptain in theRoyal Naval Reserve.[20]
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| Preceded by | Lord Lieutenant of Belfast 9 August 2009 – 6 July 2014 | Succeeded by |
Commonwealth Games champions in women'sshot put | |
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| Pentathlon (1970–1978) | |
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| Heptathlon (1982–present) |
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