Yes, quite right. The very young me LOVED Lillian Board and I was devastated when she lost, but the lovely Lillian told the press when they asked what 'went wrong' - 'Nothing. I ran my fastest ever race. It's just that Collette was faster'.
On a school day trip to Crystal Palace in 1969, I spotted Lillian sitting by herself in the stands and got her autograph. She thanked me as she signed. I still have it.
I remember the late great Lillian Board, I was 12 when she passed away but for some reason I've never forgotten our golden girl of British athletics, so much talent, so very sad.. continue to R.I.P Lillian Board, our Golden Girl.. 💕
Sir: Unless I am very much mistaken, the great Lillian Board passed away on Saturday, 26th December 1970 (Boxing Day). She was just a few days past her 22nd birthday at the time. Miss Board succumbed to cancer just 15 months after she had won the 800 metres title at the European Athletics Championships in Athens in September 1969. This enormously talented but profoundly ill-fated woman deserves to be remembered as one of the all-time greats of British athletics
+william kinch You're right on all counts. I remember the sad news of Lilian Board's passing, I was 10, the news broke just as we were sitting down to Boxing Day tea. I remember seeing this race, as well - the two weeks of the 1968 Olympics coincided with the two weeks I spent off school with mumps! I have few heroes but Lilian Board is one of them.
Reading your comment I did a double take because it could have been me writing it ! Apart from the mumps, it's EXACTLY how I remember it, and your bit about being 'off school' is a reminder that Mexico 68 was late in the year, presumably to avoid the hottest weather - September as I recall. Yes, that Boxing Day so long ago was so so sad.
Lillian Board was an immense talent who, I'm convinced, would have gone on to rewrite the record books in the women's 400 metres, had she not been stricken with the cancer that tragically took her life
She posted a PB here and a British record, so her performance was superb. Sometimes in sport, you can't legislate for someone who produces the performance of lifetime to surpass you.
Lillian was much loved & incredibly popular with the British public back then. Remember stopping up to watch this race & the feeling of disappointment when she was pipped on the line. But it was a fine performance in the conditions & over the next 2 years she proved how great she would have become had she not been struck down so tragically young. R.I.P. Lillian, your memory lives on.
I was a big fan of Lillian, and indeed may still have the newspaper series on her fight to beat cancer. although I'm not fully conversant with all of the facts it appears that she possibly lost her life because of a late correct diagnosis of her condition. My late personal friend John Tarrant (famous ultra runner) likewise died. As regards this race, although Lillian was in the U.K. billed as the golden girl of athletics and possibly predicted the gold medalist months in advance of the race the fact remains that she was only 19 years old and set her personal best in this race. She laid everything on the line, as she always did, and her silver medal was a magnificent achievement taking everything into account. Lillian will never be forgotten.
Strange how even as a kid of 11 Lillian Board still had an enormous effect on me when she passed away, I still remember her being called the golden girl of british athletics, she will never be forgotten.....
I was also very upset at the time of Lillian's death. She attended the same school as me in South Ealing- Grange School for girls,, when I first learnt of her illness, I thought she would overcome it, however, I remember seeing her at Ealing Broadway looking very sick. I cried on my way home on the bus, not caring about my surroundings! Now, I'm a mother&grandmother of 72 but still think of Lillian's athletic achievements,, lovely girl, lovely family. R.I.P. x
My father was a hard man but I remember his face when this came the on the news. Nobody knew things in those days. You could see he just liked her and was shocked and sad. It was Christmas. It says a lot about them both for me. God bless them both. xoxo
I was too young to remember this race, but what I cannot forget is she being referred to as the Golden Girl of British Athletics. She was, and absolutely debonair as well. It was most sad and painful to see her succumb to Cancer, at the age of 22. A glorious career, cruelly cut short. Rest In Peace, Dear Lillian. True grit, True Brit, and much more.
BRILLIANT race, and wonderful commentary by David Coleman, God bless him. I remember Lillian's lovely humour, she said on TV that she kept being shown the film of this race and hoped eventually the film would show her winning it ! There's never been anyone in British sport quite like her.
@@andyallen1129 It wasn't. David Coleman sounded frenzied. He assumed, Lillian Board winning, before the race started Colette Besson, didn't get the credit, she deserved.
RIP Lillian Board and RIP Collette Besson. I do not know much about Collette Besson at all, only that she pipped Lillian at the post in the 1968 400m Olympic final. Watching the video brings home just how good and talented Lillian was and just how incredible Collette's run was to beat her. I have admired Lillian Board for many years, even after her death her spirit remains - what an inspiration! Bless them both
That incredible relay race in 1969 , the final leg of the Ladies 400m at the Athens 1969 Euro Champs. . What a race , and what a finish by Lillian . To think the cancer was already in her body and she would be dead 15 months later . Besson also died prematurely aged 59 rip Lillian and Colllette rip David Coleman - the greatest Athletics commentator ever.
Colette Besson est devenue professeur de gymnastique et elle est décédée bien trop tôt d'un cancer. Son entraîneur l'avait entraîné a courir en montagne et c'est pour cela qu'elle a pu devancer la championne en titre. Quelle course en tout cas!
Colette became a star for being a young modest unknown attractive women and unexpected winner. She had the cover of many mags, crying on the podium. Nicknamed fiancée of France. Pompidou wrote her a handwritten letter of thanks. Almost 100 stadiums bear her name.
@@keithbate9405 I disagree about David Coleman. He usually sounded hysterical. He was a "Jingoist". He rarely praised foreign athletes He wasn't, The Greatest Athletics Commentator Ever". Commentators, are appearing constantly.
I wasn't born until 1974, but Lillian Board is nevertheless one of my all time favourite athletes.I can't remember when I first heard of her but as I got older and learned more about her and her tragic early demise I became a fan.I'm sure Lillian would've become one of the all time greats of British sport and it's so terribly sad how things turned out.RIP Lillian.
Thanks for uploading this. Agreed with ysgo13. There's a point in the race where it seems inconceivable that she could lose but credit to Collette Besson who timed her run to perfection, seemingly coming from nowhere. Lillian certainly was Britain's golden girl at the time and she made a guest appearance on the very first episode of A Question Of Sport early in 1970 but it would seem that the BBC,(in their eternal wisdom) have wiped this episode. She died on Boxing Day the same year at the age of 22. Surely its about time we were treated to a retrospective of Lillian's career? C'mon Beeb, it's the least she deserves.
D P - 2018 is the 70th anniversary of her birth, so maybe the BBC will do something ? I bet people who've never heard of her would be bowled over by her talent, delicious warm funny personality (there must be filmed interviews still around), and charisma.
The girl who had everything! My heart bleeds for her and I am sure there are millions out there who will never forget her. I can't forget the "revenge match" with Besson in the 4x400 in Athens the following year. RIP Lillian
A very gifted talent who departed far too early. I remember seeing the news of Lillian on her hospital bed, surrounded by cards from well wishers. She was only 22.
Miss Lillian Board ...... a very talented (and ill-fated) athlete. Who knows what she might have gone on to achieve at the 1971 'Europeans' and '72 Olympics if she hadn't been struck down by a terminal illness. It is incredible to contemplate that Miss Board was probably already suffering from cancer in September 1969, when she won a Gold medal in the 800 metres at the European Championships in Athens. She passed away just 15 short months later, on Boxing Day, 1970. God rest her soul.
I applaud all the tributes here to Lilian Board whom I remember too for her achievements and her profoundly tragic death so soon afterwards. I also recall the nonsense spouted by some sports 'experts' at the time who said that her demise was proof that the female body was not strong enough to withstand the physical demands of intense training. I was still a kid at the time but even I knew that to be nonsense. Lilian was simply so incredibly unlucky that cancer took her so early. It would be so deserving that her story be told in film or, at least, in a proper documentary of her life and achievements.
I had just turned eleven and my dad allowed me to stay up to watch this race .It upset me now to see it knowing that Lillian died just over two years later,as I was upset as a child . At least she got a small measure of revenge the following year in the European championship Thank you for posting this video
i think it was the women's 4 x 400 at The Euopeans in Athens 1969 with Board and Besson running anchor legs. Role reversal - in this race Besson went out like a scalded cat for 250 metres with Board holding back. Then Lillian started to reel back the deficit. Metre by metre - inch by inch. Coleman was so excited that his last 4 words in the race were Board Board Borad Board..... it was on u-tube , might still be!!!!
The situation was reversed a year later when Colette Besson went off too early and Lilian Board caught her. What a sad loss. She was taken from us too early. Nice touch at the Sydney games though. One of the streets in the athlete's village was called Lilian Board Street. She will not be forgotten.
I remember it all so well. I was 11 when Lillian died. I can remember pictures of her I hospital with get well cards and friends and family. Just a couple of days later she was gone. Very very sad.
You can also find an interview of Colette Besson. Lilian was favorite For the gold médaille. Colette was really un know even in France but she win . But the most important is that these 2 ladies became friends At that time...that was compétition with respect and représente your country Now lilian and Colette past away. Miss both so much
Besson died on Aug 9, 2005 of throat cancer [1], two years after being diagnosed with the disease. She was survived by her husband Jean-Pierre Muller and their two daughters, Sandrine and Stéphanie.
Lillian was before my time (I was born in '67). Surely she is one of the great relatively unknown talents in UK athletics history. It's lovely to the great David Hemery talking about her. He was a hero of mine as a 'superstar'...like Lillian, I just I could have experienced his great races as an athlete at the time.
Amazing race - Besson looks way out of it at the end of the back straight, but you can see her suddenly finding acceleration in the middle of the bend.
Awesome movie! Im a 68 Olympian collecting photos and movies from all my teammates to assemble on to DVDs for everyone, and we would be absolutely thrilled to have permission from you to include a copy of your movie in our 68 Olympic Team Photoshare Project DVDs! Please click reply to my comment here if this would be POSSIBLE or NOT possible, THANK YOU!
Pourquoi est-il marqué Lilian Board en dessous de la vidéo ? Tous les Français et le monde du sport sait que c'est Colette Besson qui a remporté la course au dépens de la grandissime favorite Lilian Board.
It is entitled Lillian Board because it has come from an english source. Lillian Board was an excellent athlete who's life was cut dramatically short by cancer at just 22. Yes Colette Besson won the race, but it was all about Lillian Board.
Merci à toi d'avoir pris le temps de me répondre. Je connais l'histoire de Lilian Board et de la maladie qui l'a emporté alors qu'elle venait de fêter ses 22 ans. C'était une très grande championne et ça donne encore plus de valeur à la victoire de Colette Besson que d'avoir battu une telle championne
Je l'ai vécu en direct et à l'époque j'avais écopé avec des copains d'un week end de retenue, car on avait quitté le dortoir à 4 h du matin pour aller voir la télé au foyer.Je n'ai jamais regretté !J'ai eu l'occasion ensuite de rencontrer cette grande championne lors d'un cross dans les années 70 en haute Savoie.Une belle personne, douée et si humble à la fois !
[Continuing on from my previous 'post' about Miss Lillian Board]: is - monstrously unfair. I hope that Miss Board will always be remembered - even many centuries from now - as one of the great British sportswomen of the 20th century. God rest her soul.
as french I DO REMENDER THIS RACE when i was14 years old , it was wonderful seeing Colette Besson coming back just before Board Je me souviens de cette course en direct tard le soir devançant Bord à l'arrivée, superbe moment pour mes 14 ans !!!
Still remember the announcement of Lillian Boards death on uk tv Boxing Day 1970, I was a young person who still loves athletics to this day and it shook me. David Coleman’s commentary in retrospect is a disgrace, she didn’t lose it she ran a pb and was beaten by a wondrous finish by Colette Besson
RIP Lillian and Collette - I was actually born a few days before Lillian died in Dec1970 but know all about her talent. All this stuff about Flo-Jo should not be on here!
My all-time favourite athlete and the girl I was crazy about more than anyone else in my life. I watched her on TV whenever the GB team was present and more than anything in the world I wanted to meet her and talk to her, that would have been a dream come true. David Hemery speaks here on this clip. He was Lillian's fiance and what I can't understand or forget is that after Lillian's death he married her twin sister. What a pair of arseholes they have been to do this to Lillian's memory. Totally unforgivable. I read the book ''LILLIAN'' as soon as it was published and I was astounded to find Lillian was born on the same week as I was. She was born on 13 December '48, I was born 5 days later on Saturday 18 December '48. Lillian was a Monday baby, I was a Saturday one. One hell of a coincidence that I was never aware of when our greatest and most charming athlete was alive. Never forgotten. Sleep well Lillian. Sleep well Colette Besson. Two lovely ladies that both died of cancer. God bless. XXXX
That was David Hemery in the clip but Lillian Board's fiancé was a sports journalist called David Emery who did indeed subsequently marry her twin sister.
I' am not going to enter into the discussion about Flo Jo. I was 18 at the time of the Mexico Olympics and just want to emphasise what a great athlete Lillian was, despite just winning Silver. She made up for it in the 1969 European Championships in the 800 metres and gained sweet revenge over Collette Besson in the 4x400m relay. Such a shame she died so young before she could reach her true potential. She would have gone onto greater achievements, no doubt about that.
she died at the age of 22...….and there is an avenue in Munich that bears her name...….on the way to the Olympic stadium. And yet Germany commemorate her and the UK don't. It's shameful
On a school day trip to Crystal Palace in 1969, I spotted Lillian sitting by herself in the stands and got her autograph. She thanked me as she signed. I still have it. I've seen the 1968 400m many times before but only now have spotted Colette potentially running on the inside line at around the 100m point. Is she?
Twice on the spin for team GB. Ann Packer missed out to Betty Cuthbert four years earlier, although as David Coleman famously said after the 800m. What a consolation! But you've gotta hand it to Colette Besson for the ground she made up. That said, Board got some small revenge the following year when she Gave Besson four-metre head start in the final 100m of the 4 x 400m and caught her on the line.
Just like the great Wilma Rudolph in the 1960 Olympics 200m, winning gold from lane 1. If Board was given one of the lanes from 3-6, she probably would have won the gold.
I've watched this so many times over the years and still, 56 years later, I simply cannot understand how Lillian lost to the French girl. Board had the race won with just yards to go. It's quite bizarre. (I saw an explanation later that Colette Besson had trained for 3 months at altitude to acclimatise to running in the thin air of Mexico City, but that STILL doesn't explain it!).
@Nickyootoob - Not sure about that. I believe the plan was to finish after the '72 Olympics. Would been one of our best female athletes ever, probably the No 1, had she been able to have a full career and fufil her huge potential. Despite what she achieved, there's no way we saw the best of her.
Lillian Board died from cancer little more than 2 years after this event. The gold medallist, Colette Besson, never won another international title and died of cancer at 59 years of age.
What a marvellous race! I hasten to add, however, that at 49 years of age, I am too young - just (!) - to remember it personally. I do not know how fast Miss Board covered the first 300 metres of that race, but at a rough 'guesstimate', I would say 37.40 seconds (possibly slightly faster). If she had 'held back' just a little, and taken, say, 0.3 seconds longer to cover the first 300m, then she would almost certainly have had enough energy and strength left in the 'tank', as it were, to deal with the phenomenal late surge by Collette Besson of France. But that is a harsh assessment, given that she (Miss Board) was still only 19 years of age at the time, AND that she had the misfortune to be in lane 1 in that race. It goes without saying that Miss Besson's lane draw (5) was more favourable. Had Lillian been in lane 4, she would have been able to keep a closer eye on the Frenchwoman, and would probably not have felt the need to cover the first 300m of the race in quite such a fast time. I genuinely believe that Lillian Board was a superior 400 metres runner to Collette Besson - even though the result of that race in Mexico, back in October 1968, suggested otherwise. Lillian Board was a marvellous athlete - with a very high degree of natural talent for the 800 metres (as well as the 400) - and it is tragic that her life was taken by cancer in December 1970, when she was just 22 years of age.
william, I know exactly what you mean. But you must hear the clip of her doing Desert Island Discs on the BBC website. She also speculates a little on the race and what she might have done differently.
Many thanks, Fatima. I would be more than slightly interested to find out what Miss Board's own views of her performance (in that classic race between herself and Collette Besson) were. She knew a great deal more about 400 metres running than I do.
I've seen a number of references here to Lane 1 being disadvantageous in some way. Never having been a competitive athlete (or indeed ANY kind of athlete) I don't understand why this should be so. Everyone has to cover the same distance anyway, don't they? (That's why the runners' start positions are staggered.)
try reading it then you may understand. but i will keep it simple for you. Athletes only started to be tested OUTSIDE THE ARENA OF MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS (in otherwords random mandatory out of competition drug tests )in 1989. the year after she retired. Is that simple enough for you ?
Altitude can do very strange things to the body. At any other venue Lillian would have beaten the rest of that field at a canter but she tied up awfully going down that final straight. I think she would have won the gold in Munich and Montreal given her age. All of which makes her untimely death all the harder to take.
Sorry, but by the time of Munich 1972, The East Germans came along, specifically Monika Zehrt in the 400 metres. The East German women broke the world record for the 4x400 metres, which Britain had held in 1969 with that fantastic race in the European Championships. The East German regime has been severely discredited since the fall of the Berlin Wall, but sadly the world records set by the likes of Marita Koch, as well as other Eastern European records, have not been scrubbed.
@@waynehentley4332 ahh I see. I thought Diego Consafo was talking about Collette Besson who took Lillian right on the line, I was going to say, Collette was French.
Joyner never failed any drugs tests at major championships. Joyner however retired at the age of 28 the year before RANDOM testing was established.Says it all for me
The tragic death of Miss Lillian Board in December 1970 - just a few days after her 22nd birthday - proved that physical fitness is not the same thing as health. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there is no connection between fitness and health. Miss Board was unquestionably one of the fittest, most athletic women in Europe - indeed the whole world. Yet she was cruelly struck down by terminal cancer right at the beginning of her adult life ...... life can be - and very often
I remember as a little boy praying for Lillian that Christmas when she was seriously ill, but it was not to be. Lillian Board RIP
Bravo Colette ! A wonderful race. 😎
Yes, quite right.
The very young me LOVED Lillian Board and I was devastated when she lost, but the lovely Lillian told the press when they asked what 'went wrong' - 'Nothing. I ran my fastest ever race. It's just that Collette was faster'.
On a school day trip to Crystal Palace in 1969, I spotted Lillian sitting by herself in the stands and got her autograph. She thanked me as she signed. I still have it.
You lucky bugger !!!
I remember the late great Lillian Board, I was 12 when she passed away but for some reason I've never forgotten our golden girl of British athletics, so much talent, so very sad.. continue to R.I.P Lillian Board, our Golden Girl.. 💕
Sir: Unless I am very much mistaken, the great Lillian Board passed away on Saturday, 26th December 1970 (Boxing Day). She was just a few days past her 22nd birthday at the time. Miss Board succumbed to cancer just 15 months after she had won the 800 metres title at the European Athletics Championships in Athens in September 1969. This enormously talented but profoundly ill-fated woman deserves to be remembered as one of the all-time greats of British athletics
+william kinch You're right on all counts. I remember the sad news of Lilian Board's passing, I was 10, the news broke just as we were sitting down to Boxing Day tea. I remember seeing this race, as well - the two weeks of the 1968 Olympics coincided with the two weeks I spent off school with mumps!
I have few heroes but Lilian Board is one of them.
Reading your comment I did a double take because it could have been me writing it ! Apart from the mumps, it's EXACTLY how I remember it, and your bit about being 'off school' is a reminder that Mexico 68 was late in the year, presumably to avoid the hottest weather - September as I recall. Yes, that Boxing Day so long ago was so so sad.
Yes British Athletes really should be doing something in her memory. There is an Emsley Carr Mile, there should be a Lillian Board 400m (or 800m).
Shes got a street in Greenford and an avenue in Munich named after her
I am a sick the BBC not showing a film of her our BBC drama our something why I don't know
Lillian Board was an immense talent who, I'm convinced, would have gone on to rewrite the record books in the women's 400 metres, had she not been stricken with the cancer that tragically took her life
She posted a PB here and a British record, so her performance was superb. Sometimes in sport, you can't legislate for someone who produces the performance of lifetime to surpass you.
Lillian was much loved & incredibly popular with the British public back then. Remember stopping up to watch this race & the feeling of disappointment when she was pipped on the line. But it was a fine performance in the conditions & over the next 2 years she proved how great she would have become had she not been struck down so tragically young. R.I.P. Lillian, your memory lives on.
She inspired a lot of young athletes at that time.....including me
I was a big fan of Lillian, and indeed may still have the newspaper series on her fight to beat cancer. although I'm not fully conversant with all of the facts it appears that she possibly lost her life because of a late correct diagnosis of her condition. My late personal friend John Tarrant (famous ultra runner) likewise died. As regards this race, although Lillian was in the U.K. billed as the golden girl of athletics and possibly predicted the gold medalist months in advance of the race the fact remains that she was only 19 years old and set her personal best in this race. She laid everything on the line, as she always did, and her silver medal was a magnificent achievement taking everything into account. Lillian will never be forgotten.
Strange how even as a kid of 11 Lillian Board still had an enormous effect on me when she passed away, I still remember her being called the golden girl of british athletics, she will never be forgotten.....
EXACTLY my view Terry, though I'm a lot younger than you, I was 10 in 1970 and was heartbroken.
I was also very upset at the time of Lillian's death. She attended the same school as me in South Ealing- Grange School for girls,, when I first learnt of her illness, I thought she would overcome it, however, I remember seeing her at Ealing Broadway looking very sick. I cried on my way home on the bus, not caring about my surroundings! Now, I'm a mother&grandmother of 72 but still think of Lillian's athletic achievements,, lovely girl, lovely family. R.I.P. x
@@ysgol3 ❤
@@georginaskipper6762 ❤
My father was a hard man but I remember his face when this came the on the news. Nobody knew things in those days. You could see he just liked her and was shocked and sad. It was Christmas. It says a lot about them both for me. God bless them both. xoxo
Lillian died on 26/12/70, Colette on 9/8/05, both to cancer
eternal glory to them
She was the golden girl of British athletics a tragedy when she died so young. I watched this race live still remember it so well
I was too young to remember this race, but what I cannot forget is she being referred to as the Golden Girl of British Athletics. She was, and absolutely debonair as well. It was most sad and painful to see her succumb to Cancer, at the age of 22. A glorious career, cruelly cut short. Rest In Peace, Dear Lillian. True grit, True Brit, and much more.
BRILLIANT race, and wonderful commentary by David Coleman, God bless him. I remember Lillian's lovely humour, she said on TV that she kept being shown the film of this race and hoped eventually the film would show her winning it ! There's never been anyone in British sport quite like her.
Brilliant commentary???the winner was Colette Besson from France...still don't know the winner's...Colette Besson...of FRANCE...time??????.?
@@johnrogan9420 ??? He says clearly who the winner was and where she was from. Time ??? ???? give David a chance !
It was good commentary
@@andyallen1129
It wasn't.
David Coleman
sounded frenzied.
He assumed, Lillian Board
winning,
before the race started
Colette Besson,
didn't get the credit, she deserved.
RIP Lillian Board and RIP Collette Besson.
I do not know much about Collette Besson at all, only that she pipped Lillian at the post in the 1968 400m Olympic final.
Watching the video brings home just how good and talented Lillian was and just how incredible Collette's run was to beat her.
I have admired Lillian Board for many years, even after her death her spirit remains - what an inspiration!
Bless them both
1Lotusflower exactly the same with me, our Golden Girl may be gone but she'll never be forgotten.
That incredible relay race in 1969 , the final leg of the Ladies 400m at the Athens 1969 Euro Champs. . What a race , and what a finish by Lillian . To think the cancer was already in her body and she would be dead 15 months later .
Besson also died prematurely aged 59 rip Lillian and Colllette rip David Coleman - the greatest Athletics commentator ever.
Colette Besson est devenue professeur de gymnastique et elle est décédée bien trop tôt d'un cancer. Son entraîneur l'avait entraîné a courir en montagne et c'est pour cela qu'elle a pu devancer la championne en titre. Quelle course en tout cas!
Colette became a star for being a young modest unknown attractive women and unexpected winner. She had the cover of many mags, crying on the podium. Nicknamed fiancée of France. Pompidou wrote her a handwritten letter of thanks. Almost 100 stadiums bear her name.
@@keithbate9405
I disagree about David Coleman.
He usually sounded hysterical.
He was a "Jingoist".
He rarely praised foreign athletes
He wasn't, The Greatest Athletics Commentator Ever".
Commentators, are appearing constantly.
I wasn't born until 1974, but Lillian Board is nevertheless one of my all time favourite athletes.I can't remember when I first heard of her but as I got older and learned more about her and her tragic early demise I became a fan.I'm sure Lillian would've become one of the all time greats of British sport and it's so terribly sad how things turned out.RIP Lillian.
Thanks for uploading this. Agreed with ysgo13. There's a point in the race where it seems inconceivable that she could lose but credit to Collette Besson who timed her run to perfection, seemingly coming from nowhere. Lillian certainly was Britain's golden girl at the time and she made a guest appearance on the very first episode of A Question Of Sport early in 1970 but it would seem that the BBC,(in their eternal wisdom) have wiped this episode. She died on Boxing Day the same year at the age of 22. Surely its about time we were treated to a retrospective of Lillian's career? C'mon Beeb, it's the least she deserves.
D P - 2018 is the 70th anniversary of her birth, so maybe the BBC will do something ? I bet people who've never heard of her would be bowled over by her talent, delicious warm funny personality (there must be filmed interviews still around), and charisma.
ABSOLUTELY AND TOTALLY AGREE.
The girl who had everything! My heart bleeds for her and I am sure there are millions out there who will never forget her. I can't forget the "revenge match" with Besson in the 4x400 in Athens the following year. RIP Lillian
Revenge Match, looks aggressive.
It was just another 400 metres race.
Colette had heart, and always be remembered as a champion 😙
I agree.
She did not get the credit, she deserved.
David Coleman, was . "A Jingoist.
A very gifted talent who departed far too early.
I remember seeing the news of Lillian on her hospital bed, surrounded by cards from
well wishers. She was only 22.
Miss Lillian Board ...... a very talented (and ill-fated) athlete. Who knows what she might have gone on to achieve at the 1971 'Europeans' and '72 Olympics if she hadn't been struck down by a terminal illness.
It is incredible to contemplate that Miss Board was probably already suffering from cancer in September 1969, when she won a Gold medal in the 800 metres at the European Championships in Athens. She passed away just 15 short months later, on Boxing Day, 1970. God rest her soul.
I applaud all the tributes here to Lilian Board whom I remember too for her achievements and her profoundly tragic death so soon afterwards. I also recall the nonsense spouted by some sports 'experts' at the time who said that her demise was proof that the female body was not strong enough to withstand the physical demands of intense training. I was still a kid at the time but even I knew that to be nonsense. Lilian was simply so incredibly unlucky that cancer took her so early. It would be so deserving that her story be told in film or, at least, in a proper documentary of her life and achievements.
I had just turned eleven and my dad allowed me to stay up to watch this race .It upset me now to see it knowing that Lillian died just over two years later,as I was upset as a child . At least she got a small measure of revenge the following year in the European championship Thank you for posting this video
Revenge seems "Violent".
Lillian, ran faster than Colette.
Colette Besson also was much loved in France and died way too young at the age of 50, I think.
59
She dies at 59 .
i think it was the women's 4 x 400 at The Euopeans in Athens 1969 with Board and Besson running anchor legs.
Role reversal - in this race Besson went out like a scalded cat for 250 metres with Board holding back. Then Lillian started to reel back the deficit. Metre by metre - inch by inch. Coleman was so excited that his last 4 words in the race were Board Board Borad Board..... it was on u-tube , might still be!!!!
The situation was reversed a year later when Colette Besson went off too early and Lilian Board caught her.
What a sad loss. She was taken from us too early.
Nice touch at the Sydney games though. One of the streets in the athlete's village was called Lilian Board Street.
She will not be forgotten.
Alf Tupper and Lillian Board... the king and queen of British athletics.
I remember it all so well. I was 11 when Lillian died. I can remember pictures of her I hospital with get well cards and friends and family. Just a couple of days later she was gone. Very very sad.
You can also find an interview of Colette Besson. Lilian was favorite
For the gold médaille. Colette was really un know even in France but she win . But the most important is that these 2 ladies became friends
At that time...that was compétition with respect and représente your country
Now lilian and Colette past away.
Miss both so much
Incredible come back of Colette Besson, the winner.
Besson died on Aug 9, 2005 of throat cancer [1], two years after being diagnosed with the disease. She was survived by her husband Jean-Pierre Muller and their two daughters, Sandrine and Stéphanie.
No she died of lungs cancer
R.I.P Lillian - one of the greats !!!
Lillian was before my time (I was born in '67). Surely she is one of the great relatively unknown talents in UK athletics history. It's lovely to the great David Hemery talking about her. He was a hero of mine as a 'superstar'...like Lillian, I just I could have experienced his great races as an athlete at the time.
A shame that David Hemery's interview was cut off at the end.
I would have been interested to hear what he had to say.
Amazing race - Besson looks way out of it at the end of the back straight, but you can see her suddenly finding acceleration in the middle of the bend.
magie de l'athlétisme
The key is she prepared at font romeu.
@papmjny
Lilian Board won beat Besson in the relay race in 1969. This was 1968.
colette pour l eternité ........
The unforgettable Lillian Board.
Hello
Brilliant athletic passed away much to young I'm 72 years old now but I used to go training at the Lillian board centre
Awesome movie! Im a 68 Olympian collecting photos and movies from all my teammates to assemble on to DVDs for everyone, and we would be absolutely thrilled to have permission from you to include a copy of your movie in our 68 Olympic Team Photoshare Project DVDs! Please click reply to my comment here if this would be POSSIBLE or NOT possible, THANK YOU!
Pourquoi est-il marqué Lilian Board en dessous de la vidéo ? Tous les Français et le monde du sport sait que c'est Colette Besson qui a remporté la course au dépens de la grandissime favorite Lilian Board.
It is entitled Lillian Board because it has come from an english source. Lillian Board was an excellent athlete who's life was cut dramatically short by cancer at just 22. Yes Colette Besson won the race, but it was all about Lillian Board.
Merci à toi d'avoir pris le temps de me répondre. Je connais l'histoire de Lilian Board et de la maladie qui l'a emporté alors qu'elle venait de fêter ses 22 ans. C'était une très grande championne et ça donne encore plus de valeur à la victoire de Colette Besson que d'avoir battu une telle championne
She was an inspiration!!! Always remembered....!!!!!
She went on to win the European Championships 800 meters 2 years later.
Colette Besson 🇫🇷🙏🏻
Colette and Lilian for ever !!
Je l'ai vécu en direct j'avais douze ans
Je l'ai vécu en direct et à l'époque j'avais écopé avec des copains d'un week end de retenue, car on avait quitté le dortoir à 4 h du matin pour aller voir la télé au foyer.Je n'ai jamais regretté !J'ai eu l'occasion ensuite de rencontrer cette grande championne lors d'un cross dans les années 70 en haute Savoie.Une belle personne, douée et si humble à la fois !
[Continuing on from my previous 'post' about Miss Lillian Board]: is - monstrously unfair. I hope that Miss Board will always be remembered - even many centuries from now - as one of the great British sportswomen of the 20th century. God rest her soul.
as french I DO REMENDER THIS RACE when i was14 years old , it was wonderful seeing Colette Besson coming back just before Board
Je me souviens de cette course en direct tard le soir devançant Bord à l'arrivée, superbe moment pour mes 14 ans !!!
In loving memory of the still irreplaceable Lillian, on the 50th anniversary of her death, Boxing Day 1970.
What a great race!
Gallant quarter by Lillian. RIP
Still remember the announcement of Lillian Boards death on uk tv Boxing Day 1970, I was a young person who still loves athletics to this day and it shook me. David Coleman’s commentary in retrospect is a disgrace, she didn’t lose it she ran a pb and was beaten by a wondrous finish by Colette Besson
RIP Lillian and Collette - I was actually born a few days before Lillian died in Dec1970 but know all about her talent. All this stuff about Flo-Jo should not be on here!
My all-time favourite athlete and the girl I was crazy about more than anyone else in my life.
I watched her on TV whenever the GB team was present and more than anything in the world I wanted to meet her and talk to her, that would have been a dream come true.
David Hemery speaks here on this clip. He was Lillian's fiance and what I can't understand or forget is that after Lillian's death he married her twin sister. What a pair of arseholes they have been to do this to Lillian's memory. Totally unforgivable.
I read the book ''LILLIAN'' as soon as it was published and I was astounded to find Lillian was born on the same week as I was.
She was born on 13 December '48, I was born 5 days later on Saturday 18 December '48. Lillian was a Monday baby, I was a Saturday one. One hell of a coincidence that I was never aware of when our greatest and most charming athlete was alive.
Never forgotten.
Sleep well Lillian. Sleep well Colette Besson. Two lovely ladies that both died of cancer.
God bless. XXXX
That was David Hemery in the clip but Lillian Board's fiancé was a sports journalist called David Emery who did indeed subsequently marry her twin sister.
@@blagger116 Yes - poor old Mr Hemery - he must have corrected people about this umpteen times down the years !
I felt exactly the same about the amazing, glorious, lovely Lillian, but it wasn't David Hemery !!
you really talking shit man !!! and who cares about your birth date ???
Gone too soon 😔 😢 😢 😢
Colette beson yes
I' am not going to enter into the discussion about Flo Jo. I was 18 at the time of the Mexico Olympics and just want to emphasise what a great athlete Lillian was, despite just winning Silver. She made up for it in the 1969 European Championships in the 800 metres and gained sweet revenge over Collette Besson in the 4x400m relay. Such a shame she died so young before she could reach her true potential. She would have gone onto greater achievements, no doubt about that.
This looks like a wonderful race. Competitive for medals and various leaders throughout
Two Wondefull champions.
Elles ont avec aussi avec Nicole Duclos donné une impulsion au 400m féminin. Avant l'arrivée du dopage de la RDA. 1:04
RIP,
LILLIAN BORD,.
RIP,
COLETTE BESSON.
ÉTERNELLEMENT.
Merci à l'actualité (JO PARIS 2024) de nous rappeler son sprint final exceptionnel !!
Colette Besson
she died at the age of 22...….and there is an avenue in Munich that bears her name...….on the way to the Olympic stadium. And yet Germany commemorate her and the UK don't. It's shameful
Deutschers haben klass...nichts limeys!
@@johnrogan9420 you're so right sir!
Yes, she ran the fastest time in the semi-finals and was very unlucky to be drawn in lane 1. System is fairer nowadays.
Agree with you about the lane draw....and the difference between gold and silver on this occasion. RIP the great Lillian Board
.sad to see the european championship relay of 1969 which Lilian won for Britain has been removed....
tragic loss beautiful girl terrible loss
Lillian was gorgeous. I remember the sadness of Boxing Day 1970 like yesterday.
On a school day trip to Crystal Palace in 1969, I spotted Lillian sitting by herself in the stands and got her autograph. She thanked me as she signed. I still have it. I've seen the 1968 400m many times before but only now have spotted Colette potentially running on the inside line at around the 100m point. Is she?
Twice on the spin for team GB. Ann Packer missed out to Betty Cuthbert four years earlier, although as David Coleman famously said after the 800m. What a consolation! But you've gotta hand it to Colette Besson for the ground she made up. That said, Board got some small revenge the following year when she Gave Besson four-metre head start in the final 100m of the 4 x 400m and caught her on the line.
Won a medal in the 400 running in lane 1? That's almost unheard of.
Just like the great Wilma Rudolph in the 1960 Olympics 200m, winning gold from lane 1. If Board was given one of the lanes from 3-6, she probably would have won the gold.
Betty Cuthbert won from lane 2 four years earlier in Tokyo.
It's not unheard, here you have 2 examples, don't try to put down Colette Besson amazing run, please !!
It's much less of a factor in the 400m than the 200m.
@@thedancechannel2515 Why would that be the case? In the 400, you have to run TWO tight turns in lane 1 as opposed to just one in the 200.
I've watched this so many times over the years and still, 56 years later, I simply cannot understand how Lillian lost to the French girl. Board had the race won with just yards to go. It's quite bizarre. (I saw an explanation later that Colette Besson had trained for 3 months at altitude to acclimatise to running in the thin air of Mexico City, but that STILL doesn't explain it!).
@wkbfutewc Collette Besson won this race. Not Lillian Board.
@Nickyootoob - Not sure about that. I believe the plan was to finish after the '72 Olympics. Would been one of our best female athletes ever, probably the No 1, had she been able to have a full career and fufil her huge potential. Despite what she achieved, there's no way we saw the best of her.
The fact that most records set by women (mainly East Germans and Flo Jo) pre-1990 have survived must mean something!
Steroids....
Too late now I realise, but more than once, especially visible at about 21 seconds, Besson runs on the inner line. Isn't that disqualification ?
No, all was okay, she ran on the line not over the line, so she is termed as in her own lane.
OK, thanks.
Betty Cuthbert briefly touched the inside of her line four years earlier in Tokyo. Not an infraction.
Lillian Board died from cancer little more than 2 years after this event. The gold medallist, Colette Besson, never won another international title and died of cancer at 59 years of age.
Colette une immense championne pour toujours
Very goodlooking women! 🙂
What a marvellous race! I hasten to add, however, that at 49 years of age, I am too young - just (!) - to remember it personally.
I do not know how fast Miss Board covered the first 300 metres of that race, but at a rough 'guesstimate', I would say 37.40 seconds (possibly slightly faster). If she had 'held back' just a little, and taken, say, 0.3 seconds longer to cover the first 300m, then she would almost certainly have had enough energy and strength left in the 'tank', as it were, to deal with the phenomenal late surge by Collette Besson of France. But that is a harsh assessment, given that she (Miss Board) was still only 19 years of age at the time, AND that she had the misfortune to be in lane 1 in that race. It goes without saying that Miss Besson's lane draw (5) was more favourable. Had Lillian been in lane 4, she would have been able to keep a closer eye on the Frenchwoman, and would probably not have felt the need to cover the first 300m of the race in quite such a fast time. I genuinely believe that Lillian Board was a superior 400 metres runner to Collette Besson - even though the result of that race in Mexico, back in October 1968, suggested otherwise.
Lillian Board was a marvellous athlete - with a very high degree of natural talent for the 800 metres (as well as the 400) - and it is tragic that her life was taken by cancer in December 1970, when she was just 22 years of age.
william, I know exactly what you mean. But you must hear the clip of her doing Desert Island Discs on the BBC website. She also speculates a little on the race and what she might have done differently.
Many thanks, Fatima. I would be more than slightly interested to find out what Miss Board's own views of her performance (in that classic race between herself and Collette Besson) were. She knew a great deal more about 400 metres running than I do.
william kinch www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009y0t6 She did know about the 400m, but she was only 19 in Mexico. So much more to come!
I've seen a number of references here to Lane 1 being disadvantageous in some way. Never having been a competitive athlete (or indeed ANY kind of athlete) I don't understand why this should be so. Everyone has to cover the same distance anyway, don't they? (That's why the runners' start positions are staggered.)
Lillian died tragically young from cancer. It has to be said that this race looked almost like slow motion compared to today
try reading it then you may understand. but i will keep it simple for you. Athletes only started to be tested OUTSIDE THE ARENA OF MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS (in otherwords random mandatory out of competition drug tests )in 1989. the year after she retired. Is that simple enough for you ?
Моя подруга Наталья Печенкина заняла третье место на этой Олимпиаде
Altitude can do very strange things to the body. At any other venue Lillian would have beaten the rest of that field at a canter but she tied up awfully going down that final straight. I think she would have won the gold in Munich and Montreal given her age. All of which makes her untimely death all the harder to take.
In Montreal? Beating Szewinska? Seriously?😃😃
Christine would win the 400m Olympic title in 2008😀
Little people brought me here. (Farewell)
Sorry, but by the time of Munich 1972, The East Germans came along, specifically Monika Zehrt in the 400 metres. The East German women broke the world record for the 4x400 metres, which Britain had held in 1969 with that fantastic race in the European Championships.
The East German regime has been severely discredited since the fall of the Berlin Wall, but sadly the world records set by the likes of Marita Koch, as well as other Eastern European records, have not been scrubbed.
この時🇺🇸スコットの飛ばしすぎがＮＨＫの実況でも感じられた。🇫🇷ベソンは翌年、公認世界記録を破ったが、同僚🇫🇷デュクロに負けたのは意外だった。🇬🇧ボードは１９７１年、癌に冒され若くして亡くなった。陸上競技の雑誌で読んで復活を願っていたが叶わなかった。実力もあり、非常に人気の有る選手だっただけに残念でならない。
R.i.p. lillian
Not a very smart race by Jarvis Scott. Did she think she was running 300 metres?
Damn, the cuban girls came from way back. I thought she had burned out. That was amazing!
Cuban?
@@1Lotusflower Aurelia Penton.
@@waynehentley4332 ahh I see. I thought Diego Consafo was talking about Collette Besson who took Lillian right on the line, I was going to say, Collette was French.
Joyner never failed any drugs tests at major championships. Joyner however retired at the age of 28 the year before RANDOM testing was established.Says it all for me
And me!!!
The tragic death of Miss Lillian Board in December 1970 - just a few days after her 22nd birthday - proved that physical fitness is not the same thing as health. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there is no connection between fitness and health. Miss Board was unquestionably one of the fittest, most athletic women in Europe - indeed the whole world. Yet she was cruelly struck down by terminal cancer right at the beginning of her adult life ...... life can be - and very often
@sxitezza Very well said; very well said indeed.
Collette Besson won this race. Not Lillian Board.
they never started testing athletes randomly until the mid 1980's, what the hell are you talking about
Wonderful memory but isn’t life cruel
Lilian had a twin sister Irene.
Rip 🇫🇷
早逝の偉人
メキシコオリンピック、ボードは400mにエントリーし、19歳で臨んだ初めてのオリンピックで表彰台という偉業を達成した。
1970年のシーズンは、初めて1マイルに挑戦。5月に行われたローマの試合で、4分44秒6の英国歴代2位の記録を樹立。しかしこのレース直後、胃の調子がおかしくなり、9月に精密検査を行ったところ、彼女の病名は末期の大腸癌であることが判明。10月には、胃に転移をしており余命2ヶ月と診断された。
ボードは、その後も病と闘い続けていたが、12月24日に昏睡状態に陥ってからは目を覚ますことなく、12月26日にこの世を去った。彼女の22歳の誕生日からわずか13日後であった。
Le génie français !