Amelia Wood (née Amelia Wershoven, Amelia Bert; December 11, 1930 – June 7, 2013) was an American track and field athlete who competed in throwing events, specializing in the javelin throw.Amelia Wershoven (née Wood, Bert). Track and Field Statistics. Retrieved on 2018-01-14. She was a Pan American Games champion and a 1956 Olympian.
She was highly successful at national level, winning seven American titles, indoors and out, and two javelin national titles. She was also the highest ranked American in shot put and discus at the 1950 AAU Championships, finishing behind Poland's Frances Kaszubski who was present as a foreign competitor. Wood had much longevity, finishing in the top five in the national shot put competition every year from 1949 to 1954 and ranking in the top two American javelin throwers each season from 1950 to 1959.USA Championships (Women). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2018-01-14.USA Indoor Championships (Women). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2018-01-14.USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions Women's Shot Put. USATF. Retrieved on 2018-01-14.
Internationally, Wood had most of her success at the Pan American Games javelin competition. At the inaugural event in 1951 in Buenos Aires, she took the gold medal with a throw of . She returned for the following two editions and reached the podium both times, taking bronze medals in 1955 and 1959. She also represented the United States in the shot put at the 1951 meet, placing fifth. She made one appearance at the Olympic Games, as part of America's three-woman javelin team at the 1956 Summer Olympics, where she was 14th in the final behind her compatriot's Karen Anderson and Marjorie Larney.Amelia Wershoven. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2018-01-14.Pan American Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2018-01-14.
During her period, the baseball throw was still a common sight in track and field competitions and she set a world record for the event in 1957 with a mark of . She was also the national champion in this event in 1951.
Born in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, she married John E. Wood and had four children (Suzanne, Barron (Keith), Brendan, Sean and Terence). She died in Mattituck, New York.Amelia Wood. Legacy. Retrieved on 2018-01-14.
International competitions 1951Pan American GamesBuenos Aires, Argentina1stJavelin throw38.08 m5thShot put10.83 m1955Pan American GamesMexico City, Mexico3rdJavelin throw43.06 m1956Olympic GamesMelbourne, Australia14thJavelin throw44.29 m1959Pan American GamesChicago, United States3rdJavelin throw42.96 m
National titles USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Shot put: 1949, 1950 (best American), 1951, 1952, 1953 Javelin throw: 1950, 1953 Discus throw: 1950 (best American) Baseball throw: 1951 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships Shot put: 1950, 1952, 1953
References