There is something ‘golden’ about our Northern Ireland star, Mary Peters

So many 50th anniversaries this year have been grim blood-soaked milestones.

1972 was the worst year of the Troubles in terms of loss of life and destruction but it also threw up some welcome points of light which illuminated those dark 12 months.

The greatest shining ray of hope back then for people in Northern Ireland was the remarkable achievement of Mary Peters, the local athlete who grabbed world sporting headlines as the UK’s only athletics gold medallist at the Munich Olympics.

Mary’s world record winning score in the pentathlon secured her victory transforming Ulster’s original ‘golden girl’ into an international star.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of her triumph.

She returned to rapturous scenes in Belfast after the tournament, defying a death threat supposedly from the IRA, and showing that the public yearning for a normal life was never defeated, even at the height of the terrorism.

Mary then won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 1972 transmitting a message to the mainland and the world that there was more to life in the Province than just murder and mayhem.

After her retirement she set down a lasting legacy with her Mary Peters Trust supporting young local sports talent and her alumni who benefited from it range from Rory McIlroy to Carl Frampton.