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Profile - Betty Cuthbert
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Betty Cuthbert was born in Ermington in the Western Suburbs of Sydney in 1938. She starred in school sports from an early age and in 1951 won the sprint events at the unique Australian School Championships. She continued to improve her times through the early fifties under the coaching of June Ferguson who, as June Maston, had won a silver medal at the 1948 Olympic Games. In 1955 Betty ran some outstanding times in the sprints - particularly in the 220y, where she set an Australian Junior record. In her first Australian Championships, in 1956, she could not make the final in the 100y event, finishing third in her heat. However, she won the 220y and was selected in the Olympic training squad. In the middle of her preparation for the Olympic Games, she surprised everyone by running a new world record of 23.2 for 200m in Sydney. She was not feeling well and had to be persuaded to start in the race by her mother, but she broke the World and Australian records as a junior. She later ran well at the Australian trials and was duly selected in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay for the Melbourne Games. She won her heat of the 100m in a new Olympic record of 11.4, but was upset in the semi-finals by German Christa Stubnick. In the final, she made no mistakes and was the clear winner ahead of Stubnick and Marlene Matthews. Her victory in the 200m seemed assured, and even the placings in this event were the same as in the 100m. Cuthbert joined with Shirley Strickland, Norma Croker and her friend Fleur Mellor to break the world record and win another gold in the 4x100m relay. Betty became known as the 'Golden Girl' and was a household name around the world, as well as in Australia. Her rivalry with Marlene Matthews continued through the late fifties and the two of them traded victories throughout the seasons. In 1958 it seemed to be Marlene's year at last. Often unlucky in previous seasons, she won both 100y and 220y at the Australian Championships and Commonwealth Games and she set world records for both these events as well. Betty was second behind Marlene in most of these competitions but also started to experiment with running longer distances. She had immediate success in 440y or 400m races and, though she ran them infrequently in the late 50s, held the Australian record by the end of the decade. In 1960, Betty seemed in good form to defend her Olympic titles. She set a world record winning the 220y at the Australian Championships in Hobart and also qualified in the 100y and relay. The Rome Olympics were fairly disastrous for Australia's women athletes and Cuthbert was no exception. She was troubled by stomach problems and a hamstring injury and could not make it past the second round of the 100m. She immediately withdrew from other events and virtually retired from the sport. She made a comeback in 1962, aiming for selection in the Perth Commonwealth Games. Though she qualified for the team she could not make the final of the 100y and could not win a medal in her favoured 220y event. In the 4x110y relay though, Cuthbert ran a great last leg to overhaul the English team and take gold for Australia. The 400m was included on the Olympic programme for the first time in 1964 and Betty decided to concentrate on this event in the future. She improved her times considerably through 1963 and 1964, helped by strong competition from Dixie Willis, Judy Amoore and Rhonda Gardiner - who were all world class. In the 1964 Nationals, despite health scares, Cuthbert won the 440y to make certain her selection in a third Olympic team. In Tokyo for the Games, Cuthbert qualified as easily as possible in the heats and semi-finals. In the final which she later described as 'the only perfect race I have ever run', Cuthbert set off fast and led the field into the home straight. Showing great strength she held off favoured British champion Ann Packer and Australian compatriot Judy Amoore in a record 52.01 time. At the age of twenty-six Cuthbert retired from athletics. She later coached a number of athletes including the outstanding middle distance runner, Cheryl Peasley. Today, Betty Cuthbert suffers from multiple sclerosis and leads a quiet life in Western Australia. Betty Cuthbert Biography - COMING SOON!!
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