{{Short description|British athlete (born 1953)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Use British English|date=July 2017}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Verona Elder<br>née Bernard | image = | caption = | nationality = British (English) | sport = Athletics | event = 400 m | club = WBAC | birth_date = 5 April 1953 | birth_place = Wolverhampton, England | death_date = | death_place = | height =170 cm | weight =63 kg | pb = | medaltemplates= {{MedalSport | Women's athletics}} {{MedalCountry|{{GBR2}}}} {{Medal|Competition|European Indoor Championships}} {{Medal|Gold|1973 Rotterdam|400 m}} {{Medal|Gold|1975 Katowice|400 m}} {{Medal|Gold|1979 Vienna|400 m}} {{Medal|Silver|1977 San Sebastián|400 m}} {{Medal|Bronze|1981 Grenoble|400 m}} {{Medal|Country | {{ENG}} }} {{Medal|Comp|Commonwealth Games}} {{Medal|Gold |1974 Christchurch|4×400 m}} {{Medal|Gold |1978 Edmonton|4×400 m}} {{Medal|Silver |1974 Christchurch|400 m}} {{Medal|Silver |1978 Edmonton|400 m}} }}
'''Verona Marolin Elder''' (née '''Verona Bernard''') MBE (born 5 April 1953 in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire) is a female British, Commonwealth and European medal winning English 400 metres runner<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417190947/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/be/verona-bernard-elder-1.html Sports Reference.com]. Retrieved 22 June 2013</ref> and is now the manager of the British athletics team for people with learning disability.
== Athletics career == Bernard finished third behind Jannette Roscoe in the 400 metres event at the 1971 WAAA Championships<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001723/19710718/021/0021 |title=Women's AAA Results |work=Sunday Sun (Newcastle) |date=18 July 1971 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=6 March 2025 }}</ref> and then became the British 400 metres champion after winning the British WAAA Championships title at the 1972 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=6 March 2025}}</ref>
Shortly afterwards, Bernard made her debut on the international stage at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich taking fifth place in the 4 × 400 m relay.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/68610 |title=Biographical Information |website=Olympedia |access-date=5 March 2025}}</ref> The following year in 1973, she won the 400 m title at the European Indoor Championships in Rotterdam, ahead of the East Germans Waltraud Dietsch and Renate Siebach.
At the 1974 British Commonwealth Games, Bernard finished second in the 400 m and won the 4 × 400 m relay and won a gold medal in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay event with Jannette Roscoe, Ruth Kennedy and Sue Pettett.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/christchurch-1974/ |title=Christchurch 1974 Team |website=Team England |access-date=5 March 2025 }}</ref> Later that year Bernard married Hugh Elder and competed under her married name thereafter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?r=253543206:6080&d=bmd_1740370513 |title=Marriages |website=Free BMD |access-date=6 March 2025 }}</ref>
Elder retained her European indoor title at the European Indoor Championships in 1975 in Katowice and regained her WAAA title at the 1976 WAAA Championships and 1977 WAAA Championships.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=6 March 2025 }}</ref>
She won a silver medal in the 400 metres, at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/edmonton-1978/athletes|title=1978 Athletes|website=Team England}}</ref> She was a Finalist in the 400 m and 800 m at the European Championships in 1978. At the start of 1979 season she won gold at the indoor European Indoor Championships in Vienna, Austria, ahead of Jarmila Kratochvílová.
She also represented England in the 400 metres hurdles event, at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/brisbane-1982/athletes|title=1982 Athletes|website=Team England}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/40587|title=Athletes and results|website=Commonwealth Games Federation|access-date=28 September 2019|archive-date=28 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928102032/https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/40587|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Coaching career == She was a member of the Wolverhampton & Bilston club, Staffordshire. She went on to teach sport to people with learning disability at Thurrock College, Essex. She led Great Britain to six gold, six silver and three bronze medals at the 7th International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability (INAS) World Indoor Championships for athletes with learning disabilities as the team manager. With GB finishing second in the medal table behind Portugal at Manchester Sport City. She was Chef de Mission to the 2011 INAS Global Games in Italy on 24 September – 4 October 2011.<ref>[http://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=40799 Athlete profile]. Retrieved 22 June 2013</ref><ref>[http://www.uksportsassociation.org/The_Full_Story_Meet_Verona_Elder.pdf UK Sports association Verona Elder] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304220357/http://www.uksportsassociation.org/The_Full_Story_Meet_Verona_Elder.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }}. Retrieved 22 June 2013</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Footer Commonwealth Champions 4x400 m Women}} {{Footer European Indoor Champions 400m Women}} {{British Indoor Athletics Championships women's 400 metres champions}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Elder, Verona}} Category:1953 births Category:Living people Category:Athletes from Wolverhampton Category:English women sprinters Category:British women sprinters Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Category:Olympic women sprinters Category:Medallists at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Category:Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Category:20th-century English sportswomen Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics