Life has reached a slower pace for an athlete who ran so well . . .
Stirling earned remarkable success during her career, even if prize money was in short supply
ROSEMARY STIRLING was once the first lady of Scottish athletics. She was the first to win Commonwealth track gold when she took the 800 metres title in Edinburgh in 1970; first to hold UK and Commonwealth records indoors and out; first to win a medal (400m bronze) at the European indoor championships, while 4 x 400m victory at the European outdoors made her the first Scottish woman to win European gold and she was the first to hold a world record in an Olympic event.
Yet now, to her great regret, she has been forced to give up running. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I need a knee replacement,” she says. “I’m just trying to hang out – shoes were not nearly as good back then and you just went out on the roads. I don’t run at all now – I’ve so many niggling pains: sore knees, sore ankles, sore shins. It’s not through not wanting to. I absolutely hate not being able to run, but I know I can’t.”
Her husband, former European marathon silver medallist Trevor Wright, is similarly afflicted and already has a replacement. “So we walk all the time,” she says, finding solace as a doting grandmother.
The couple have today been supporting their daughter, Jessica, who hoped to get on the podium at the New Zealand Marathon Championships in Rotorua. They have lived in nearby Tauranga since emigrating in the mid 1970s. Rosemary was born in New Zealand, but her father came from Dunfermline. Her mum was homesick, so they returned to the Midlands when Rosemary was 14.
At 17 she went to the Scottish championships at Pitreavie. “We stayed at a B&B in Dunfermline’s main street,” she recalls. “Trucks were hitting a manhole cover all night and I didn’t get much sleep.”
Yet she won the 400m and 800m and was selected next day by Scotland. “My grandparents were proud Scots and so was my dad, so I accepted.”
The following week, Stirling beat future Olympic silver medallist Lillian Board in a time which was then fifth best by a Brit, and was offered an England vest immediately. “I told them they were too late, that I had already committed to Scotland.”
In an accent now profoundly Kiwi, she insists: “I never regretted it. Scotland, with smaller numbers, really looked after you.”
Stirling did them proud in return. She was European finalist six times indoors and out, while her Commonwealth 800m record in the Munich Olympic final (2:00.15) beat the UK best of 1964 Olympic champion Ann Packer. This survived as the Scottish best for 30 years until Susan Scott broke it, yet it still remains second fastest. She also held the Scottish 400m record for 12 years with 53.24, a time only three Scots in contention for 2014 have bettered.
Her 1970 Commonwealth victory was hailed as a surprise, though Stirling had earlier set a Commonwealth indoor 800m best at Cosford. She set a Scottish all-comers’ best (2:05.4) to take the Scottish title at Meadowbank and a week later helped Britain to a world best in 4 x 800m with Shiela Carey, Pat Lowe and Board.
Rejection of England may have hindered her. Of selection for the European gold-medal relay squad, she says: “There were five in contention and I had a distinct feeling they didn’t want me. And before the Munich Olympics, I couldn’t get the British Board to send me anywhere. I struggled for races.”
But the feisty, 5ft 2ins Stirling could not be overlooked. Her 800m
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