Lillian Copeland was born Lillian Drossin on November 25, 1904, in New York City. Her parents were Polish immigrants. After her father’s death, her mother remarried and Lillian took her stepfather’s name. As a child she moved to the west coast. She graduated from Los Angeles High School and entered the University of Southern California, where she was a member of the Xi Chapter of Alpha Epsilon Phi.
It is said that she won every women’s track event in which she participated while a student at the University of Southern California.
In 1927, she had a role in Marion Davies’ film The Fair Co-ed, although she is not credited in any of the movie databases.
In 1926, she had National Amateur Athletic Union championships in shot put, discus throw, and javelin throw. The discus and javelin throws were world records. As per her 1930 USC yearbook entry, she was the American Champion and American and World record holder.
The first year that women were able to participate in track and field events in the Olympics was 1928. Shot put was not yet an Olympic sport, so even though Copeland was a four-time national champion in that event, she participated in discus instead. She won a silver medal for discus at the 1928 Olympics, making her one of the first women to win a medal at the Olympics. Copeland also ran on the 400 meter relay team during the Olympic trials, but did not run the relay in the Olympics.
After graduation, Copeland began studies at USC Law School. She returned to competition in 1931 in preparation for the 1932 Olympics. Teammate Ruth Osburn of Shelbyville, Missouri, broke the women’s record. Copeland broke Osburn’s record a few minutes later. Copeland won a gold medal in the discuss throw and Osburn took the silver.
Although she said she was through with competition after winning the gold in 1932, she must have changed her mind. In 1935 she traveled to Tel Aviv at her own expense to participate in the World Maccabiah Games. She won in the discus throw, javelin throw, and shot put competitions. Copeland boycotted the 1936 Berlin Olympics because of Hitler and his stance on Jewish athletes.
Copeland worked for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department from 1936 until her retirement in 1960. She died on July 7, 1964.
In 1980, Copeland became a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in Netanyah, Israel. Eleven years later, she was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in Los Angeles.
