A YORK teacher and former Olympian has been inducted into the Welsh Athletics Hall of Fame.

Angela Tooby-Smith, a teacher at St Peter’s School, was awarded the honour at a ceremony in Cardiff.

Born in Hereford, Angela qualified to run for Wales while studying at Aberystwyth University – along with her identical twin sister Susan. Between them the twins, running for both Cardiff and Wales, revolutionised distance running in the country. They were adored by fans but caused difficulties for commentators, who struggled to tell them apart.

By the 1980s Angela was one of the world’s top distance athletes, competing in athletics competitions across the globe. She was the Welsh cross country champion 5 times and won both the English and UK cross country championships. In 1986 she won the Commonwealth Games bronze medal in the 10,000m. In 1988 she won the silver medal in the World Cross Country Championship in New Zealand and represented GB in both the World Championship and the Seoul Olympic Games at 10,000m – the first time this distance event had been run by women.

She held the Welsh women’s 3,000 metres record for 15 years and still holds the 5,000 and 10,000 metre records, having first broken them back in 1984. Her 10,000m time of 31.55.30 was a British record and is still the 11th fastest in UK history.

These achievements are made more impressive by the fact that she was competing at a time when female athletes were not supported or funded as their male colleagues were.

Throughout her career, the Cold War dominated politics and both the Berlin Wall and Iron Curtain were firmly in place. Angela raced in the Eastern Block ‘behind the wall’ on many occasions; she now draws on these experiences when she teaches Geography and Global Perspectives at St Peter’s, helping students understand the relationship between politics and sport.