Speaking to the BBC, the athlete reflected on gold medal win at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
From the moment she defeated home favourite Heidi Rosendahl in Munich to sensationally claim what was only the country’s second-ever Olympic gold, her life changed.
“I was public property from that moment on, but I was able to set up a fund to raise money for a running track in Belfast which now bears my name,” she said.
“I did most of my training in the Queen’s University Gymnasium, but I was fortunate enough to go to America on a scholarship on a Winston Churchill Trust to train for six weeks away from the Troubles.
“Because I had enjoyed that so much, I wanted that next generation to enjoy that here.”
The Mary Peters Track in south Belfast opened in 1976 and, for over 40 years now, the Mary Peters Trust has been offering support to aspiring young athletes from Northern Ireland to help them reach their full sporting potential.
Despite living in Belfast at the beginning of the Troubles which was taking hold of the region, Lady Peters insists that she loved living here, despite receiving death threats.
“I went to a reception by the British Olympic Association and a gentleman came over and said he had something to tell me, and he told me that if I went home to Belfast I’d be shot and they’d blow up my apartment,” she said.
“I just said ‘oh, they wouldn’t do that to me!’”
When she was then told by her father, who had visited unexpectedly from Australia – where he was living at the time – to come back and live there with him, she replied no.
“I said I’m staying in Belfast, because I love it there,” the gold medallist said.
When she returned home to Northern Ireland after her 1972 Olympic win, Lady Peters said that it was “just magical”.
“There was a band playing at the airport but it was surrounded by barbed wire so people were handing baskets of flowers over the wire,” she said.
“We then travelled back to the gym owned by my coach in a gold Rolls Royce and then we went to the Belfast Telegraph who had supported the trust to raise money for the track.
“People were hanging out of windows at Royal Avenue throwing ticket tape and it was just magical,” she added.
“We then went to the city hall and the lord mayor was there to greet me and he congratulated me and I said I brought the gold home for you.”
A series of celebration events is planned in Belfast over the weekend to celebrate her 50-year milestone.
It includes a launch at Belfast’s Ulster Museum of an exhibition including a range of stories, photographs and memorabilia reflecting Lady Mary’s success and contribution to Northern Ireland’s sporting, cultural and civic history.
On Sunday a 70s-themed afternoon tea is taking place at the Europa Hotel with proceeds set to be donated to the Mary Peters Trust.
