{{Short description|British athlete}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Dorothy Tyler<br /><small>{{nobold|{{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}}}}</small> <br>(née Odam) | image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-G00985, Berlin, Olympiade, Hochsprung der Damen.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = Ibolya Csák, Elfriede Kaun and Dorothy Odam<br /> at the 1936 Olympics. | birth_date = {{birth date|1920|3|14|df=y}} | birth_place = Stockwell, London, England | death_date = {{death date and age|2014|9|25|1920|3|14|df=y}} | death_place = Long Melford, England | nationality = British (English) | sport = Athletics | event = high jump | club = Mitcham AC | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{Medal|Sport| Women's athletics}} {{Medal|Country|{{GBR2}}}} {{Medal|Competition|Olympic Games}} {{Medal|Silver|1936 Berlin|High jump}} {{Medal|Silver|1948 London|High jump}} {{Medal|Competition|European Championships}} {{Medal|Silver|1950 Brussels|High jump}} {{Medal|Country|{{ENG}}}} {{Medal|Competition|British Empire Games}} {{Medal|Gold|1938 Sydney|High jump}} {{Medal|Gold|1950 Auckland|High jump}} {{Medal|Competition|{{nowrap|British Empire and Commonwealth Games}}}} {{Medal|Silver|1954 Vancouver|High jump}} }}

'''Dorothy Jennifer Beatrice Tyler''', MBE (née '''Odam'''; 14 March 1920 – 25 September 2014) was a British athlete who competed mainly in the high jump.<ref>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/od/dorothy-odam-tyler-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417174304/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/od/dorothy-odam-tyler-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-04-17 |title=Dorothy Odam-Tyler |accessdate=2014-07-14}}</ref>

== Biography == She was born in Stockwell, London. Odam competed for Great Britain in the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany, where she won the silver medal behind Ibolya Csák. She jumped the highest and was the first to clear 1.60 meters, and would have won under modern countback rules, but under the 1936 rulebook a jump-off was called for, and Csák won the gold.<ref name="independent1">{{cite news |author=Steven Downes |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/dorothy-tyler-high-jumper-who-met-hitler-then-became-the-first-british-woman-to-win-an-individual-olympic-medal-in-athletics-9763321.html |title=Dorothy Tyler: High jumper who met Hitler then became the first British woman to win an individual Olympic medal in athletics &#124; News |newspaper=The Independent |accessdate=2016-02-16}}</ref>

Shortly before the 1936 Olympic Games, Odam won her first British WAAA Championships title, becoming the national high jump champion at the 1936 WAAA Championships.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19360720/388/0007 |title=Women Champions |work=The Scotsman |date=20 July 1936 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 January 2025 }}</ref> She would go on to win another seven national high jump titles, spanning from 1936 until 1956.<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=24 January 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=24 January 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003359/19480627/096/0006 |title=Mrs Jordan keeps title |work=Weekly Dispatch (London) |date=27 June 1948 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription | access-date=14 February 2025}}</ref>

In 1939 she broke the world record in the high jump with 1.66m, but Germany's Dora Ratjen allegedly broke her record quickly.<ref name="independent1"/> Odam was suspicious of Ratjen and, according to Odam, "They wrote to me telling me I didn't hold the record, so I wrote to them saying, 'She's not a woman, she's a man'. They did some research and found 'her' serving as a waiter called Hermann Ratjen. So I got my world record back."<ref name="independent1"/><ref>Ratjen had retired from competing in 1938, though, and her titles and records had been pulled. Hamburger Nachrichten, Oct 1, 1938, p. 11 (one of several sources).</ref> Odam's world record was formally recognized by the sport's world governing body, the IAAF, in 1957.<ref name="independent1"/>

She won the silver medal again representing Great Britain in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, making her the only woman to win Olympic athletics medals before and after the war.<ref>{{cite news |last=Thordardottir |first=Ingibjorg |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7570970.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828202956/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7570970.stm |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 August 2008 |title=UK &#124; Keep it simple say 1948 Olympians |publisher=BBC News |date=2008-08-26 |accessdate=2014-07-14 }}</ref> Her 1936 win also made her the first British woman to win an individual Olympic medal in athletics.<ref name="independent1"/>

Odam was also twice a gold medallist at the British Empire Games, winning at Sydney in 1938 and Auckland in 1950. In Sydney she was the only Englishwoman to win athletics gold, setting a Games record of 5&nbsp;ft 3&nbsp;in, which is the same as 1.60 meters.<ref name="independent1"/>

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2002 New Year Honours for services to athletics.<ref>{{cite web |title=2002 New Year Honours |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/56430/supplement/22 |website=The London Gazette |access-date=1 September 2022}}</ref>

In 2012, she was the official starter for the London Marathon.

She died on 25 September 2014 aged 94 following a long illness.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.athleticsweekly.com/featured/dorothy-tyler-dies-aged-94-12445/ |title=Dorothy Tyler dies aged 94 |website=Athleticsweekly.com |date=26 September 2014}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/in_depth/2002/new_year_honours/1734899.stm New Years Honours]

{{Footer Commonwealth Champions High Jump Women}} {{Footer AAA Championships High Jump Women}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tylerodam, Dorothy}} Category:1920 births Category:2014 deaths Category:People from Stockwell Category:Athletes from the London Borough of Lambeth Category:British women high jumpers Category:English women high jumpers Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Category:English Olympic competitors Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1938 British Empire Games Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Category:European Athletics Championships medalists Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic silver medalists in athletics Category:Medallists at the 1938 British Empire Games Category:Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games Category:20th-century English sportswomen Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics