Packer, Ann E. (1942—)

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Packer, Ann E. (1942—)

English runner. Name variations: (married name) Ann Brightwell. Born Ann E. Packer in Moulsford, Berkshire, England, on March 8, 1942.

Won English Schools 100 yards (1959); won WAAA long jump (1960); finalist in the 200 meters in the European Championship (1962); was a finalist in the 80-meter hurdles in the Commonwealth Games; won the silver medal in the 400 meters, setting a European record of 52.2, and the gold medal in the 800 meters at 2:01.1, a new world record, both in the Tokyo Olympic games (1964).

England's versatile Ann Packer retired at age 22, after winning two Olympic medals. In the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, on six consecutive days, she ran in the heats and in the semifinal and final of the 400 meters and the 800 meters. Having won the silver in the 400 meters, a race she expected to win, Packer won a gold medal in the 800 meters, a race she had run only twice in her life. The psychological stress was daunting. "If I'd gone out in the first round of the 800 meters," she said, "nobody would have been surprised."