Sylvia Potts

Athletics career

National championships Coached by Allan Potts from 1963,

Potts ran her personal best for the 800 m, a national record time of 2:04.0, in winning the 1970 national championship.

Potts was given the honour of running the final leg of the Queen's Baton Relay at the opening of the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, running the baton carrying the Queen's message into the Queen Elizabeth II Park stadium and presenting it to the Duke of Edinburgh.

Honours and legacy In the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours, Potts was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to athletics. In 2008, she was one of the second group of inductees onto the University of Otago School of Physical Education's wall of fame.

Following Potts' death, the major annual track and field meet in Hawke's Bay was named the Sylvia Potts Classic. It was renamed the Allan and Sylvia Potts Classic in 2015 after the death of Allan Potts.