| Olympic medalist | ||
| Medal record | ||
| Women’s swimming | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for Australia | ||
| Gold | 1972 Munich | 200 m individual medley |
| Gold | 1972 Munich | 200 m freestyle |
| Gold | 1972 Munich | 400 m freestyle |
| Silver | 1972 Munich | 800 m freestyle |
| Bronze | 1972 Munich | 100 m freestyle |
Shane Elizabeth Gould, MBE (born 23 November 1956) is an Australian former swimmer who won three gold medals, a silver and bronze in 1972 Summer Olympics. It was the greatest performance by an Australian at a single Olympics.
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Shane Gould was born in Sydney, Australia, on the first day of competition of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. She moved to Fiji with her family at the age of 18 months. By the age of six, she was a competent swimmer. She attended primary school at St. Peters Lutheran College, Brisbane, where a sporting house is named after her, and secondary school at Turramurra High School, Sydney. She was trained by leading coaches Forbes and Ursula Carlile and their assistant Tom Green.
At the 1972 Summer Olympics, in Munich, Gould won three gold medals, setting a world record in each race. She also won a bronze and a silver medal.
At the age of 16, she retired from swimming.
She is the only person, male or female, to hold every world freestyle record from 100 m to 1500 m simultaneously, and the first female swimmer ever to win three Olympic gold medals in world record time.
She was awarded Australian of the Year in 1972.[1]
She was one of the bearers of the Olympic Torch at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She carried the Olympic Torch at the stadium, as one of the runners for the final segment, before the lighting of the Olympic Flame.
She now divides her time between Launceston, Tasmania and Sydney, and still swims, in Masters competitions.
She has four children from her first marriage, and two grandchildren. She married Milton Nelms in 2007.[2]
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