Betty Cuthbert AC MBE was a 4 time Olympic gold medallist for Australia (1956, 1964)
Known as Australia's Golden Girl, Elizabeth (Betty) Cuthbert (/bɛti kʌθbət/) was a four time Olympic champion in the field of athletics. She is the only Olympic sprinter, man or woman, to have won gold medals in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres events.[1]
Early Life
The daughter of New Zealand-born Leslie Cuthbert and Marion Cleland, Betty was born in 1938 in Merrylands, New South Wales, Australia, as a twin to Marie.[2]
Betty grew up in the Sydney suburb of Ermington and attended Ermington Public School, followed by Parramatta Home Science School, where she met her coach, June Ferguson. She left school at 16 years of age to work in her parents' nursery.[3][4]
The Golden Girl
Betty trained with the Western Suburbs Athletic Club,[2] and had a distinctive running style, with a high knee lift and mouth wide open.[4]
Women's 100 metre final in 1956 Olympic Games (Betty Cuthbert, Marlene Mathews, Heather Armitage)
The Olympic Games came to the southern hemisphere for the first time in November 1956 in Melbourne, Australia. Competing before a home crowd, Betty established herself as Australia's Golden Girl as she won an unprecedented three gold medals, the highest medal tally of any athlete at these Games.[5]
Betty ran a personal best time of 11.4 seconds for her heat in the 100 metres, which set a new Olympic record, and won the final in a time of 11.5 seconds.[6]
In September 1956 Betty set a world record time of 23.2 seconds for the 200 metre event in Sydney, Australia, and was the favourite to win in Melbourne. In the final she led by one metre off the curve and went on to win gold by three times that margin. With a time of 23.4 seconds, she equalled Marjorie Jackson's Olympic record set in Helsinki, Finland, in 1952.[7]
Betty ran the anchor leg for Australia in the 4 x 100 metre relay, with Shirley Strickland, Norma Croker and Fleur Mellor completing the team. The Australian and German teams shared a world record time of 44.9 seconds in the heats. In the final, Britain's Heather Armitage had a one metre lead when she took the baton, but Betty soon caught her. Betty won by half a metre as both teams completed the event under world record time; Australia in 44.5 seconds and Great Britain in 44.7 seconds.[8]
Australian 4 x 100m Relay Team at 1956 Olympic Games (L-R) Fleur Mellor, Norma Croker, Betty Cuthbert, Shirley Strickland
Betty set four records in early 1958, but came second to fellow Australian Marlene Mathews later that year over 220 yards at the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales, and had to settle for fourth place in the 100 yards. She won a silver medal with the relay team.[4]
An injured hamstring at the 1960 Olympics in Rome prevented Betty advancing beyond the quarter finals in her first event.[9]
Betty returned in 1964 in Tokyo to win gold in the 400 metres, in the Olympic record time of 52.0 seconds, the first time this event was contested by women at an Olympic Games, in what she later described as "the only perfect race of my life."[1][10]
Between 1956 and 1964 Betty set or equalled 18 world records over 60 metres, 100 yards, 220 yards and 400 metres, and in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 220 relays.[1]
Honours
Statue of Betty Cuthbert at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Betty received several honours for her contribution to Australian athletics and her fundraising work for ME. These include but are not limited to:
2003 - Bronze statue unveiled outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[23]
2007 - New South Wales NSW Hall of Champions Legend.[24]
2010 - The rose Betty Cuthbert was named after Betty.[25]
2012 - Inaugural inductee of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Hall of Fame.[26]
2017 - Australian Women's Health Sport Awards Hall of Fame.[27]
2018 - A bronze sculpture of Betty (and one of Marlene Mathews) was unveiled at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia. This makes them the first female athletes added to the bronze sculptures in the Sydney Cricket Ground precinct.[28]
2018 - Companion of the Order of Australia(AC), for eminent service to athletics at the national and international level, particularly as a gold medallist at the Melbourne and Tokyo Olympic Games, and as a role model, fundraiser, and advocate for research into a cure for multiple sclerosis.[29]
The main street of Ermington shopping centre is named Betty Cuthbert Avenue in her honour.[14]
After experiencing symptoms for five years, Betty was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1974, which eventually confined her to a wheelchair and in need of a permanent carer. She became a born again Christian in 1985.[14] With former Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, she launched MS Research Australia in 2004, and worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the disease and fund research. She participated in the torch relay at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, in a wheelchair.[30] In her honour, the Betty Cuthbert Scholarship and the Betty Cuthbert Fellowship were jointly funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), MS Research Australia and the Trish MS Research Foundation to assist research in to the causes of MS and speed-up the development of new treatments and therapies to reduce the effects of the disease.[31]
Death and Burial
Betty died in a nursing home in Mandurah, Western Australia, on 6 August 2017.[32] She was cremated and her ashes were interred at the Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens and Crematorium in North Ryde, New South Wales.[33][34]
↑ Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Government of Australia. (Australian Honours Search Facility, https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1085201 : accessed 19 May 2021) Order of the British Empire award granted to Miss Betty Cuthbert, 12 Jun 1965, in recognition of service to sport and to the community.
↑ Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Government of Australia. (Australian Honours Search Facility, https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/886314 : accessed 19 May 2021) Member of the Order of Australia award granted to Miss Betty Cuthbert MBE, 26 Jan 1984, in recognition of service to sport and to the community.
↑ Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Government of Australia. (Australian Honours Search Facility, https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/972540 : accessed 19 May 2021) Australian Sports Medal granted to Mrs Betty Cuthbert AM MBE, 26 Jan 1984, 1956 Olympic Games - Melbourne Gold Medallist - 100m, 200m, 4x100m Relay 1964 Olympic - Tokyo 400m.
↑ Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Government of Australia. (Australian Honours Search Facility, https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1115320 : accessed 19 May 2021) Centenary Medal granted to Miss Betty Cuthbert, 1 Jan 2001, for outstanding service to the sport of athletics.
↑ Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Government of Australia. (Australian Honours Search Facility, https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/2000838 : accessed 19 May 2021) Companion of the Order of Australia award granted to the late Ms Betty Cuthbert AM MBE, 26 Jan 2018, for eminent service to athletics at the national and international level, particularly as a gold medallist at the Melbourne and Tokyo Olympic Games, and as a role model, fundraiser, and advocate for research into a cure for multiple sclerosis.
↑ Burial Register (Metropolitan Cemeteries Board, Western Australia, wa.gov.au : accessed 27 May 2021) cremation record for Cuthbert, Betty (Age: 79, Date of Death: 6 Aug 2017, Residence: Mandurah, Cemetery: Fremantle Cemetery, Disposition: Ashes taken by Funeral Director, Application No. FC00079820.)
↑ Find a Grave, database and images findagrave.com : accessed 18 May 2021), memorial page for Elizabeth Alyse “Betty” Cuthbert (20 Apr 1938–6 Aug 2017), Find A Grave: Memorial #206901030, citing Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens and Crematorium, North Ryde, Ryde City, New South Wales, Australia.
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