Former World Archery president.

† 1909-1981

Inger Frith was a former president of World Archery (1961-1977) and an international archer.

Born in 1909 in Denmark, she served in the South African Air Force during the Second World War, before settling in the United Kingdom and taking up archery. She represented Great Britain internationally, competing at three world championships.

Frith was elected vice president of FITA (the former name of World Archery) in 1955, before taking over the organisation’s presidency in 1961, becoming the first female president of an international sports federation.

She was the key figure behind archery’s eventual return to the Olympic Games in 1972, and was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services to archery.

At the time of her death, on 24 October 1981, she remained the only woman to have headed a major international sports federation.