Bevis Reid

British track and field athlete

Bevis Shergold
(née Reid)

Personal information

Born| 13 June 1919
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died| 4 July 1997(1997-07-04) (aged 78)[1]
Richmond, London, England
Sport
Sport| Athletics
Event(s)| Discus throw, shot put and javelin
Club| Mitcham AC

Medal record

Shot put at the AAA Championships[2]
| 1938 | Women's Shot put
| 1939 | Women's Shot put
| 1947 | Women's Shot put
| 1948 | Women's Shot put
| 1949 | Women's Shot put
| 1951 | Women's Shot put

Bevis Maria Anael Shergold (née Reid, 13 June 1919 - 4 July 1997) was a British track and field athlete who competed in the 1938 European Athletics Championships and the 1948 Summer Olympics.[3]

## Athletic career

[edit]

Reid was a member of the Mitcham Athletics Club in London. By the time she was 19 years old she had unofficially broken the British record in the discus and the javelin.[4] She competed in both the shot put and the discus at the 1938 European Athletics Championships held in Vienna, finishing in fifth place in the shot put and eighth place in the discus.[5]

Due to the war Reid had to wait ten years before she could compete in the Summer Olympics, where she threw 35.84 metres in the discus and finished in 14th place.[6] She fared better in the shot put, finishing in third place in the qualifying round,[7] but could only throw 12.170 metres in the final to finish in eighth place.[8]

Reid won the national shot put title (two-hand aggregate, 8lb shot) at the WAAA Championships on six occasions[2] and was five times national discus champion.[9] In addition she also won the javelin title at the 1948 WAAA Championships.[10][11]

## Personal life

[edit]

During World War II she was an intelligence servicewoman and was one of the first women to be posted aboard. She worked in Egypt and Algeria as a translator during the interrogation of POWs.[12]

She married Harold Taplin Shergold, a senior officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, responsible for handling Oleg Penkovsky and unmasking George Blake.[13]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Bevis Reid at Olympedia
2. ^ a b "WAAA and National Championships Medallists - Shot Put". nuts.org.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
3. ^ "Bevis Reid". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
4. ^ "Women's AAA Championships". West London Observer. 1 July 1938. Retrieved 1 November 2017 - via British Newspaper Archive.
5. ^ "1938 European Championships". sport-olympic.gr. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
6. ^ "Women's Discus Throw". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
7. ^ "Women's Shot Put Qualifying Round". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
8. ^ "Women's Shot Put Final Round". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
9. ^ "WAAA and National Championships Medallists - Discus". nuts.org.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
10. ^ "WAAA and National Championships Medallists - Javelin". nuts.org.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
11. ^ "Mrs Jordan keeps title". Weekly Dispatch (London). 27 June 1948. Retrieved 2 February 2025 - via British Newspaper Archive.
12. ^ "Bevis Shergold". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
13. ^ Magnus, Emma. "East Sheen house which was home to a Cold War spymaster and Olympic medallist for sale for £5m". London Standard. Retrieved 3 July 2025.