# Georgina Price

**Georgina Price** is a British athlete who competed in the first heptathlon ever held, scoring 4289 points (hand-timed) at Enfield on 12 May 1973.<sup>[1](https://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf)</sup> Her mark stands in the International Association of Athletics Federations (now [World Athletics](https://www.edgepedia.org/world-athletics)) progression lists for the women's combined events, and the competition in which she took part marked the transition of the women's pentathlon toward the seven-event heptathlon.<sup>[1](https://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Great Britain (GBR)<sup>[1](https://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf)</sup> |
| Signature performance | 4289H points, heptathlon, Enfield, 12 May 1973 (H = hand timing)<sup>[1](https://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf)</sup> |
| Historical status | The competition was the first heptathlon held<sup>[1](https://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf)</sup> |
| Event order that day | Long jump, 200 m, 100 m hurdles, shot put, high jump, javelin, 800 m<sup>[1](https://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf)</sup> |
| Individual marks | 16.3 (100 m hurdles), 10.96 m (shot), 1.50 m (high jump), 28.1 (200 m), 5.10 m (long jump), 24.16 m (javelin), 2:47.7 (800 m)<sup>[1](https://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf)</sup> |
| Score on later tables | 4883 points when recalculated on the 1984 scoring tables<sup>[1](https://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf)</sup> |

## The first heptathlon

The Enfield meeting of 12 May 1973 began life as a pentathlon. The [Middlesex](https://www.edgepedia.org/middlesex) county Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) added the javelin throw and the 800 meters to the five-event format, producing a seven-event contest run in the order long jump, 200 meters, 100 meters hurdles, shot put, high jump, javelin, and 800 meters.<sup>[1](https://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf)</sup> This order differs from the standard heptathlon sequence later adopted internationally, which places the 100 m hurdles, shot, high jump, and 200 m on day one and the long jump, javelin, and 800 m on day two.<sup>[1](https://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf)</sup>

Price's marks were recorded with hand timing, indicated by the H suffix in the record lists, and her total of 4289 points converts to 4883 points on the scoring tables introduced in 1984.<sup>[1](https://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf)</sup> Because the meeting was an improvised county-level experiment rather than a ratified championship, the performance is preserved as a progression-list entry rather than an official world record.

## The pentathlon-to-heptathlon transition

Price's experiment preceded formal adoption of the new format by several years. In response to a request from the IAAF, the WAAA staged a heptathlon at the Alexander Stadium in [Birmingham](https://www.edgepedia.org/birmingham) on 23 and 24 September 1978, where Ruth Howell became the winner of Britain's first officially organized heptathlon.<sup>[2](https://athleticsweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/securepdfs/2025/06/Oct-21-1978-Vol-32-No-42.pdf)</sup> From 1 January 1981 the heptathlon replaced the pentathlon in international women's athletics.<sup>[1](https://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf)</sup>

Price also appears in the surviving records of the Women's Amateur Athletic Association: the program of the 1973 WAAA Championships at Crystal Palace, held 20 to 21 July 1973, includes her image among the featured athletes.<sup>[3](https://calmview.bham.ac.uk/GetDocument.ashx?db=Catalog&fname=ATH_WAAA.pdf)</sup>

## A namesake in indoor rowing

A different Georgina Price, of London, set a series of Concept2 indoor rowing records in masters age groups. Her recorded marks include a 24-hour row of 212,309 meters in the women's 50-59 heavyweight category on 12 October 2009, a 24-hour row of 235,208 meters in the women's 60-69 heavyweight category on 14 to 15 October 2011 at age 60, a 100,000-meter time of 8:10:46.0 in the women's 50-59 lightweight category on 24 April 2010, and a tandem mixed 50-59 lightweight 100,000-meter record of 6:57:52.1 set with Joe Keating on 23 May 2010.<sup>[4](https://www.rheinklub-alemannia.de/graphics/2013/13-02-23-Ergo-Weltrekord/24h-Concept2.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://www.rheinklub-alemannia.de/graphics/2011/11-03-20-Ergometerrudern/ultra-distance.pdf)</sup> The Concept2 world record lists also credit her with a women's 60-69 heavyweight 100,000-meter time of 8:21:38.1 rowed on 12 October 2012.<sup>[6](https://www.concept2.it/indoor-rowers/racing/records/ultra-distance/world/100000-meters)</sup> She remained active on the Concept2 logbook into her seventies, ranking a 10,000-meter BikeErg time of 25:31.0 at age 73 in 2025.<sup>[7](https://log.concept2.com/rankings/2025/bikeerg/10000?page=15)</sup> The available records do not connect this rower with the 1973 combined-events athlete.

## References

1. [Progression of IAAF World Records 2015 (combined events section), IAAF](https://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf)
2. [Athletics Weekly, 21 October 1978, Vol. 32 No. 42](https://athleticsweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/securepdfs/2025/06/Oct-21-1978-Vol-32-No-42.pdf)
3. [Records of the Women's Amateur Athletic Association, Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham](https://calmview.bham.ac.uk/GetDocument.ashx?db=Catalog&fname=ATH_WAAA.pdf)
4. [24 Hours records, Concept2 (archived PDF)](https://www.rheinklub-alemannia.de/graphics/2013/13-02-23-Ergo-Weltrekord/24h-Concept2.pdf)
5. [Concept2: Ultra-Distance World Records (archived PDF)](https://www.rheinklub-alemannia.de/graphics/2011/11-03-20-Ergometerrudern/ultra-distance.pdf)
6. [World 100,000 Meters records, Concept2](https://www.concept2.it/indoor-rowers/racing/records/ultra-distance/world/100000-meters)
7. [2025 10,000m BikeErg Rankings, Concept2 Logbook](https://log.concept2.com/rankings/2025/bikeerg/10000?page=15)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Athletics, gymnastics, and strength sports › Athletes of track and field and road running › Throwers and combined-event athletes › Heptathletes and pentathletes*

*Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license