Olympic Games Gold Medalist Athlete. Born Lillian Drossin, she was a student at the University of Southern California, whom excelled at tennis and basketball, when she joined the women's track and field team in 1924. In 1925, she captured her first US National Championship with a victory in the 8-Pound Shotput. A year later, she established herself as one of the world's premier women athletes when she won a trio of titles in the Shotput, Discus and Javelin. At the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games, which was the first Olympics to include women's track and field, she set a world record of 37.08 meters winning a silver medal in the Discus event. In 1932, at the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California, she won the gold medal in the Discus and set a world's record of 40.59 meters. In all from 1925 to 1932, Copeland set six world records in the Shotput, Javelin and Discus. Following the 1932 Olympics, she served as a juvenile officer for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for 24 years. In 1979, she was posthumously inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and into the US Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1994.
Olympic Games Gold Medalist Athlete. Born Lillian Drossin, she was a student at the University of Southern California, whom excelled at tennis and basketball, when she joined the women's track and field team in 1924. In 1925, she captured her first US National Championship with a victory in the 8-Pound Shotput. A year later, she established herself as one of the world's premier women athletes when she won a trio of titles in the Shotput, Discus and Javelin. At the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games, which was the first Olympics to include women's track and field, she set a world record of 37.08 meters winning a silver medal in the Discus event. In 1932, at the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California, she won the gold medal in the Discus and set a world's record of 40.59 meters. In all from 1925 to 1932, Copeland set six world records in the Shotput, Javelin and Discus. Following the 1932 Olympics, she served as a juvenile officer for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for 24 years. In 1979, she was posthumously inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and into the US Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1994.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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