Betty Cuthbert

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Medal record
Statue of Betty Cuthbert outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Statue of Betty Cuthbert outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Women's athletics
Competitor for Flag of Australia Australia
Olympic Games
Gold 1956 Melbourne 100 metres
Gold 1956 Melbourne 200 metres
Gold 1956 Melbourne 4x100 m relay
Gold 1964 Tokyo 400 metres
Commonwealth Games
Silver 1958 Cardiff 220 yards
Silver 1958 Cardiff 4x110 yards relay
Gold 1962 Perth 4x110 yards relay

Elizabeth ("Betty") Cuthbert (born April 20, 1938 in Merrylands,[1] New South Wales) is an Australian athlete, and a four-fold Olympic champion.

During her career, she set world records at 60 metres, 100 yards, 200 metres, 220 yards and 440 yards. Cuthbert also contributed to Australian relay teams setting world records at 4x100 metres, 4x110 yards, 4x200 metres and 4x220 yards.

Contents

[edit] Athletics career

Betty Alyse Cuthbert sisters with Madeleine Carlisle (now married) began sprinting in high school. Her father owned a plant nursery and young Betty loved running between the rows of plants barefoot. At the age 18, with the 1956 Summer Olympics to be held in Melbourne, Cuthbert set a World Record in the 200 m, making her one of the favourites for a gold in that event. Cuthbert first reached the final of the 100 m, setting an Olympic record of 11.4 in her heat, while the Australian World Record holder Shirley Strickland de la Hunty was eliminated.

Cuthbert won the final and was now the big favourite for the 200 m title. She lived up to the expectations, and became the Australian "Golden Girl". A third gold medal for Cuthbert came when she ran the final leg on in the 4 x 100 m final, which the Australian team won in a new World Record.

During 1958 Cuthbert set world records for 100 and 220 yards but was beaten in both events by arch-rival and double-Olympic bronze medalist Marlene Mathews at the Australian Championships. Later in the year, at the Empire Games at Cardiff, Cuthbert could only place fourth in the 100y and second in the 220y, again behind Mathews.

In the lead-up to the 1960 Summer Olympics, Cuthbert set a world 220 yards and 200 metres record of 23.2 in winning the Australian championships. At the Rome Games, she suffered from injury and was eliminated from the heats of the 100 m; subsequently, she retired from the sports.

Her retirement didn't last long, for she returned at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, helping Australia to a gold medal in the sprint relay.

Afterwards, she concentrated on the 400 m, and competed in that event in the 1964 Summer Olympics, when it was on the Olympic program for the first time. Though not impressive in the heats, Cuthbert won the title for her fourth Olympic gold medal, beating Ann Packer of Great Britain into second. She subsequently retired for good.

Throughout her career Cuthbert was coached and mentored by June Maston-Ferguson who had won a silver medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics as part of the Australian relay team.

[edit] Sydney 2000

Cuthbert was one of the bearers of the Olympic Torch at the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She carried the Olympic Torch at the stadium, as one of the runners for the final segment, before the lighting of the Olympic Flame by Cathy Freeman.

[edit] Personal Details

Betty Cuthbert grew up in the Sydney suburb of Ermington, where she attended Ermington Public School.[2] The main street of Ermington shopping centre is called Betty Cuthbert Avenue in her honour.[3]

She has multiple sclerosis and now lives in Western Australia.

[edit] Personal Bests

Personal Bests - outdoor

Event Time Wind City Date
60 Metres 7.2 Sydney 27 Feb 60
100 Yards 10.4 Sydney 01 Mar 58
100 Metres 11.4 Melbourne 24 Nov 56
200 Metres 23.2 Sydney 16 Sep 56
220 Yards 23.2 Hobart 07 Mar 60
400 Metres 52.01 Tokyo 17 Oct 64
440 Yards 53.3 Brisbane 23 Mar 63

[edit] World Records

Individual

Event Time Wind City Date
60 Metres 7.2 Sydney 27 Feb 60
100 Yards 10.4 Sydney 01 Mar 58
200 Metres 23.2 Sydney 16 Sep 56
23.2 Hobart 07 Mar 60
220 Yards 23.6 Perth 18 Jan 58
23.5 Sydney 08 Mar 58
23.2 Hobart 07 Mar 60
440 Yards 55.6 Sydney 17 Jan 59
54.3 Sydney 21 Mar 59
53.5 Melbourne 11 Mar 63
53.3 Brisbane 23 Mar 63

Relays

Event Time City Date
4 x 100 Metres 44.9 Melbourne 01 Dec 56
44.5 Melbourne 01 Dec 56
4 x 110 Yards 45.6 Sydney 05 Dec 56
4 x 200 Metres 1-36.3 Sydney 05 Dec 56
4 x 220 Yards 1-36.3 Sydney 05 Dec 56

[edit] References

  1. ^ Australian Women's Archives Project
  2. ^ Anna (class 4S), Ermington Public School History, Ermington Public School Website (accessed 19 June 2006)
  3. ^ Gregory's Street Directory, 59th Edition 1995, Map 310 B2
v • d • e
Olympic champions in women's 100 m
1928: Betty Robinson • 1932: Stanislawa Walasiewicz • 1936: Helen Stephens • 1948: Fanny Blankers-Koen • 1952: Marjorie Jackson • 1956: Betty Cuthbert • 1960: Wilma Rudolph • 1964: Wyomia Tyus • 1968: Wyomia Tyus • 1972: Renate Stecher • 1976: Annegret Richter • 1980: Lyudmila Kondratyeva • 1984: Evelyn Ashford • 1988: Florence Griffith-Joyner • 1992: Gail Devers • 1996: Gail Devers • 2000: vacant • 2004: Yulia Nestsiarenka


v • d • e
Olympic champions in women's 200 m
1948: Fanny Blankers-Koen • 1952: Marjorie Jackson • 1956: Betty Cuthbert • 1960: Wilma Rudolph • 1964: Edith McGuire • 1968: Irena Szewinska • 1972: Renate Stecher • 1976: Bärbel Eckert • 1980: Bärbel Eckert • 1984: Valerie Brisco-Hooks • 1988: Florence Griffith-Joyner • 1992 Gwen Torrence • 1996: Marie-José Pérec • 2000: vacant • 2004: Veronica Campbell


v • d • e
Olympic champions in women's 400 m
1964: Betty Cuthbert • 1968: Colette Besson • 1972: Monika Zehrt • 1976: Irena Szewinska • 1980: Marita Koch • 1984: Valerie Brisco-Hooks • 1988: Olga Bryzgina • 1992 Marie-José Perec • 1996: Marie-José Perec • 2000: Cathy Freeman • 2004: Tonique Williams-Darling