Anne O'Brien

Anne Marie Vrana O'Brien (August 22, 1911 – July 30, 2007) was an American sprinter. She represented the United States at the 1928 Summer Olympics in the 100 meters and at the 1936 Summer Olympics in the 80-meter hurdles. In 1932 she equaled the 80-meter hurdles world record, but fell at the Olympic Trials and missed the Olympics.

Biography

Anne Vrana was born in Schenectady, New York, to a Hungarian immigrant family. The family moved to California when she was young, and she took up running seriously as a student at Fremont High School in Los Angeles, where she was coached by 1924 Olympian Otto Anderson. In her early years Vrana copied Charley Paddock's jump finish in her races; she dropped the style later in her career. At the Olympics she placed third in her heat and was eliminated.

O'Brien entered the 1932 Olympic Trials as the national leader in the 80-meter hurdles, ahead of the eventual Olympic top two Babe Didrikson and Evelyne Hall. In the Trials heats O'Brien fell at the fourth hurdle, failed to finish and was eliminated. Due to the cuts and abrasions she received in her fall she was given a tetanus shot, which made her ill; she was forced to withdraw from the semi-finals of her other event, the flat 100 meters. She was named to the American Olympic team as an alternate in the hurdles, but did not get the opportunity to compete.

O'Brien gave birth to a daughter in 1934, but continued competing; she won the 80-meter hurdles at the 1936 Trials, qualifying for her second Olympic Games. At the Olympics in Berlin she placed second in her heat and fourth in her semi-final; she narrowly missed qualifying for the final.

O'Brien's athletic career tapered off after 1936, though she continued competing in minor meets into her forties. She died in Tustin, California in July 2007, aged 95.