Sheila W. Lerwill (born 16 August 1928) is a British athlete who competed mainly in the high jump.
She was born Sheila Alexander in London, originating from Streatham.
She played netball for England and Surrey.[1] She lived on Glenister Park Road.[2]
In 1950 she was trained by George Pallett.[3]
She took the British record on 5 August 1950 at 5ft 6.5.[4]
Lerwill broke the world record for women's high jump on 7 July 1951 in London with a jump of 1.72 metres, beating the previous record of 1.71 metres set by Fanny Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands on 30 May 1943 in Amsterdam.
The record was broken on 22 May 1954 by Aleksandra Chudina of the USSR in Kiev with a jump of 1.73 metres.[5] She competed for Great Britain in the high jump at the 1952 Summer Olympics, held in Helsinki, Finland, where she won the silver medal with a jump of 1.65 metres. It was Britain's best athletics medal at the games.
She married Michael H. M. Lerwill, from Westerham, on Saturday 31 March 1951 at Holy Redeemer Church[6] [7] in Wandsworth.[8] [9]