Janet is pictured at the Crystal Palace Natioanl Sports Centre in south London durind an
International 4x400m relay. She had retired from athletics in 1969 but made a comeback to
compete in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
She died of a heart attack on 14 March 2010 at the age of 65.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Championship Record 1964-1972.
Women's 200m. Final. Olympic Games 1964.
1. Edith McGUIRE (USA) 23.05OR
2. Irena KIRSZENSTEIN (POL) 23.13
3. Marilyn BLACK (AUS) 23.18
4. Una MORRIS (JAM) 23.58
5. Lyudmila SAMOTYOSOVA (SOV) 23.59
6. Barbara SOBOTTA (POL) 23.97
7. Janet SIMPSON (GBR) 23.98
8. Daphne ARDEN (GBR) 24.01
Women's 400m. Final. Olympic Games 1968.
1. Colette BESSON (FRA) 52.03EOR
2. Lillian BOARD (GBR) 52.12
3. Natalya PECHENKINA (SOV) 52.25
4. Janet SIMPSON] (GBR) 52.57
5. Aurelia PENTON (CUB) 52.75
6. Jarvis SCOTT (USA) 52.79
7. Helga HENNING (GER) 52.89
8. Hermina VAN DER HOEVEN (HOL) 53.02
Women's 4x100m. Relay Final. Olympic Games 1964.
1. POL (T. Ciepla, I. Kirszenstein, H. Gorecka, E. Klobukowska) 43.69
2. USA (W. White, W. Tyus, M. White, E. McGuire) 43.92
3. GBR (J. Simpson, M. Rand, D. Arden, D. Hyman) 44.09
Women's 4x400m. Relay Final. European Athletics Championships 1969.
1. GBR] (R. Stirling, P. Lowe, J. Simpson, L. Board) 3.30.8
2. France (B. Martin, N. Duclos, E. Jacq, C. Besson) 3.30.8
3. FRG (C. Czekay, A. Gleichfeld, I. Eckhoff, C. Frese) 3.32.
Women's 4x400m. Relay Final. Olympic Games 1972.
1. GDR (D. Kasling, R. Kuhne, H. Seidler, M. Zehrt) 3.23.0 WR
2. USA (M. Fergerson, M. Manning, C. Toussaint, K. Hammond) 3.25.2
3. GER (A. Ruckes, I. Bodding, H. Falck, R. Wilden) 3.26.5
4. FRA (M. Duvivier, C. Besson, B. Martin, N. Duclos) 3.27.5
5. GBR (V. Bernard, J. Simpson, J. Roscoe, R. Stirling) 3.28.7
Janet Simpson was one of Europe's top female sprinters and 400 metre runners in the 1960s.
She first attracted attention
in 1959 when, aged 14, she took the All-England Schools junior
title at 150 yards, the first of four such titles she won at 150y/220y.
She claimed the junior
220y crown at the Women's AAA Championships in 1961, aged 16, and by 1964 she had
established herself
as Britain's No 1 over 200m, a string of fine performances earning her a
place in the Great Britain squad for the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.
Here she ran an excellent 23.7
to finish third in a very tough 200m semi-final, before finishing a creditable 7th in the final
itself (23.9).
Janet then linked up with Mary Rand, Daphne Arden and Dorothy Hyman to win
bronze in the 4x100m relay (her mother,
Violet Simpson (nee Webb), also won a bronze medal
in the same event at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles),
their time of 44.0 a Commonwealth record.
Janet won the Senior 220y title at the Women's AAA Championships in both 1965 and 1966 and
despite suffering from a virus,
reached the 220y final at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston,
Jamaica, finishing eighth. However, she did collect
another medal as a member of the England squad
(along with Maureen Tranter, Daphne Slater/Arden and Jill Hall) that took silver
in the 4x110y relay (45.6).
In the 1968 season she moved up to 400m, and in only her fourth appearance in this event she claimed
second place (53.9) at the WAAA Championships. The top UK finisher in the race (Holland's Mirna van der Hoeven
winning in 53.6),
this superb run helped her gain a place in the Great Britain team for the Mexico Olympics.
Simpson made her way through the heats
and then in the final itself produced an outstanding performance to
finish just outside the medals in 4th place in what was, remarkably,
just her seventh race at the distance.
Janet ran the race as a sprinter and managed to improve her PB by no less than 3.5 secs!
The following year saw
Simpson teaming up with Rosemary Stirling, Pat Lowe and Lillian Board to win gold for Britain in the 4x400m relay
at the '69 European Championships. Running the third leg, Janet produced a terrific performance to make up a
15 metre lead on her
French rival Eliane Jacq. Simpson had promised Lillian Board that she would stay just behind
the French and she remained true to her word,
so setting up perfectly the memorable dual between Besson and
Board which saw Lillian prevail by the narrowest of margins.
Janet's leg was the fastest of the British quartet.
Janet retired in 1969 but decided to come back for the 1972 Munich Olympics. Despite being plagued by injury
she managed
a notable finale to a long and successful career when passing Collette Besson (France) and
Inge Bodding (West Germany)
in the 4x400m final to improve GB's position from 6th to fourth. Janet's time
was 51.2 - a Commonwealth record for a 4x400m relay leg.
She married the Swiss sprinter Philippe Clerc
(born 24 December 1946) who won a bronze and a gold medal in the 100 and 200m at the 1969 European
Athletics Championships, respectively. He competed in these events at the 1972 Summer Olympics, but failed
to reach the finals.