Lillian Copeland

Lillian Copeland (November 24, 1904 – July 7, 1964) was an American track and field athlete, who excelled in weight throwing. She has been called "the most successful female discus thrower in U.S. history", and also held multiple titles in shot put and javelin throwing.

Until the Beijing Games, she was the only American woman to win the discus throw at a modern Olympiad. She was also the first Olympian who was an alumna of the University of Southern California and Los Angeles High School.

Early life

Copeland was born Lillian Drossin to Polish Jewish immigrants in New York. Her father died when she was young, and after her mother remarried they moved to Los Angeles and changed their last names.

Athletic career

Copeland competed during the formative decades of women's competition in track and field. Consequently, her accomplishments are not fully described by the two medals she won in the discus throw. She excelled in all throwing events; in the shot put, she won the AAU championships 5 times (1924–28, 1931). In addition, she won the AAU discus throw title in 1926 and 1927, and the javelin throw title in 1926 and 1931. In the latter event, she broke the world record three times in 1926 and 1927. According to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, she is said to have set the world record six times each in shot put, javelin and discus from 1925–1932. However, according to the USATF Hall of Fame, she only held one world record, in javelin throw. It is unclear why the two sources are so radically different in their accounts.