{{Short description|British sprinter (born 1950)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Use British English|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Anita Neil | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE|size=100%}} OLY<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/people/its-official-wellingborough-sprint-hero-anita-confirmed-as-an-olympics-history-maker-3225388 |title=It's official! Wellingborough sprint hero Anita confirmed as an Olympics history maker |date=6 May 2021 |last=Bagley |first=Alison |website=Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph |access-date=16 August 2021}}</ref> | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|4|5|df=yes}} | birth_place = Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = British (English) | height =163 cm | weight =55 kg | sport = Athletics | event = Sprinting | club = London Olympiades | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Women's athletics}} {{MedalCountry | {{ENG}} }} {{MedalCompetition|Commonwealth Games}} {{MedalSilver| 1970 Edinburgh | 4 x 100 metres relay}} {{MedalCountry|{{GBR2}}}} {{MedalCompetition|European Championships}} {{MedalBronze|1969 Athens|100 metres}} {{MedalBronze|1969 Athens|4 × 100 metres relay}} }}
'''Doris Anita Neil''' (born 5 April 1950) is a retired British international sprinter. In 1968, she became the first black British woman Olympian at the 1968 Summer Olympics.<ref name=TT>{{cite news |last1=Bagchi |first1=Rob |title=The story of black British sportswomen - from early pioneers through to current day |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2020/10/22/story-black-british-sportswomen-early-day-pioneers-current/ |access-date=21 April 2021 |work=The Telegraph |date=22 October 2020}}</ref>
== Early life == Neil was born in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Williams, Jean, 1964-|title=Britain's Olympic women : a history|date=26 July 2020|isbn=978-1-000-16320-9|location=Abingdon, Oxon|oclc=1176318130}}</ref> to an African-American father and a white English mother. Neil’s father was a staff sergeant with the United States Army stationed in Wellingborough during World War II, where he met her mother, Florence, a local woman.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Second World War|url=https://www.northamptonshireheritage.co.uk/learn/historical-events-and-movements/Pages/the-second-world-war.aspx|access-date=28 August 2020|website=www.northamptonshireheritage.co.uk|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724005937/https://www.northamptonshireheritage.co.uk/learn/historical-events-and-movements/Pages/the-second-world-war.aspx}}</ref> Neil's father, who travelled back and forth between the US and England, left when she was six. In his absence Neil's mother raised their five children single-handed with the support of Neil's grandparents.<ref name="quit">{{Cite web|date=2021-06-10|title=Anita Neil: Britain's first Black female Olympian – who was forced to quit in her prime|url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jun/10/anita-neil-britains-first-black-female-olympian-who-was-forced-to-quit-in-her-prime|access-date=2021-10-22|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>
== Career == Neil worked as a machinist in a clothing factory and trained in her spare time. From an impoverished family Neil was forced to rely on charity to travel to competitions and obtain equipment.<ref name=TT/>
Known primarily as a sprinter, Neil's first competition for Great Britain was in the long jump in 1966.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Friday photos (9): Anita Neil - Britain's first black woman Olympian?|url=http://go-feet.blogspot.com/2013/11/friday-photos-anita-neil-britains-first.html|access-date=28 August 2020|website=go-feet.blogspot.com|date=November 2013 |language=en-GB}}</ref> She competed for Great Britain in the 1967 European Cup.
At a national competition in Portsmouth, she won the 100 yards and broke the national record (10.6 seconds). At the same meet she was part of the 4 x 110m relay team who set a World Record. Neil was invited to Buckingham Palace which she remembered because she met George Best.<ref name=quit/>
Neil finished second behind Val Peat in the 100 metres event at the 1968 WAAA Championships.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000566/19680721/100/0030 |title=World-Beater Vera |work=Sunday Post |date=21 July 1968 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=2 March 2025 }}</ref> Shortly afterwards at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, she represented Great Britain in the 100 metres competition, where she was eliminated in the second quarter final and the 4 × 100 metres relay, finishing seventh in the final.<ref name=":0" /> She was encouraged by her hero Mary Rand and she became a member of the women's athletics club London Olympiades and is considered 'a pioneer in the first generation of Black British female Olympic Athletes'.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Moon|first=Gregory Paul|url=http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/844252/1/10148734.pdf|title=A New Dawn Rising: An Empirical And Social Study Concerning the Emergence and Development of English Women's Athletics Until 1980|publisher=University of Surrey, Doctoral Thesis|year=1997|location=Surrey}}</ref><sup>:319</sup>
In 1969, she competed at the European Athletics Championships in Athens,<ref name=":0" /> where she won bronze medals in the 100 metres as well as in 4 x 100-metres relay.<ref name=":1" /><sup>:205</sup>
Neil became the national 100 metres champion after winning the British WAAA Championships title at the 1970 WAAA Championships<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=2 March 2025}}</ref> and the following month, Neil represented England at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh and won a silver medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/edinburgh-1970/athletes|title=1970 Athletes|publisher=Team England}}<br>- {{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/edinburgh-1970|title=Edinburgh, 1970 Team|publisher=Team England}}<br>- {{cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/39969|title=Athletes and results|publisher=Commonwealth Games Federation|access-date=13 August 2019|archive-date=13 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813134410/https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/39969|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Neil represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games for a second time at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.<ref>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ne/anita-neil-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418041440/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ne/anita-neil-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2020 |title=Anita Neil Olympic Results |access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref> Again she progressed to the second round in the 100 metres and to the final in the relay.
== Later life == Eventually the lack of a coach, insufficient training facilities, and having to support her family financially saw Neil forced into early retirement at just 23 years old.<ref name=TT/><ref name="quit"/>
Neil continues to live in Wellingborough and has participated in local events.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Abel|first=Carolyn|date=10 June 2005|title=The Times Educational Supplement|work=TES|url=https://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/legal/news/document/urn:contentItem:4GCF-7TB0-00X7-T4GH-00000-00?q=%22Anita%20Neil%22&contentTypeId=news&ht=C858DA6169A61B0C0520067828E4ED3B69B400C58CE9B5287F48096E4E0D3A0FF350AA27148F0BE7F668E2CD8090B94C29715671FDC6DF431800A4A0C7FBC46C518421E7123C8CC27B66B2E201F450730171E1EFA9D4F731FBC2E9A5FDFC5B463C86B437B83D66E7CE464E0EA6131CE9F4B4A7632142D538748C37D0083B718C2BCA2D96C58B52F2D2B61816A86EC71D3A4EF72404FEDD7C4DB3BBD71E2349349761700CF644B1237036B459F061AC2C5CCBC92F950E85B297A3E73A3FCED6A89773D8AD4BE8AF7FDAB89E8C9491B455}}</ref> In 2012, she was a guest of honour at the opening of the Wellingborough Museum's exhibition on the Olympic Games. A portrait of her hangs in the museum.<ref>{{cite web |title=Miss Anita Neil (b.1950) |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/miss-anita-neil-b-1950-49433 |website=Artuk |access-date=21 April 2021}}</ref> She also served as guest of honour at the official opening of the Knights Court in Wellingborough in 2014.<ref>"Pounds 9m Housing Complex Officially Open in Wellingborough." ''Telegraph'', 15 July 2014''. {{ProQuest|1545011796}}.''</ref>
Neil was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2024 Birthday Honours for services to athletics.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/people/mbe-for-wellingborough-born-anita-neil-as-britains-first-black-female-olympian-honoured-4666719 |title=MBE for Wellingborough-born Anita Neil as Britain's first black female Olympian honoured |date=14 June 2024 |work=Northamptonshire Telegraph |access-date=15 June 2024}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{sports links}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Neil, Anita}} Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Category:Black British sportswomen Category:British women sprinters Category:English women sprinters Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Category:European Athletics Championships medalists Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain Category:Sportspeople from Wellingborough Category:Olympic women sprinters Category:Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:English people of African-American descent Category:20th-century English sportswomen Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics