50 years ago

Lillian Board brought Britain her second gold medal in the European athletics championships in Athens with a storming victory in the women’s 800 metres final last night. Yugoslav world record-holder Vera Nikolic and Rumanian Ileana Silai, previously the fastest European this season, were left behind by Miss Board’s explosive finish. She clocked 2 minutes 1.4 seconds and won by more than five yards. Lynn Davies almost made it a golden double, but narrowly lost the long jump title.