Shirley Strickland
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Shirley Barbara Strickland (July 18, 1925 - February 16, 2004), later Shirley Strickland de la Hunty was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in the running sports.
Strickland, a native of Northam, Western Australia, graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Science in 1945 and, in 1946, won honours with physics. Only the following year she took up running seriously, but with great success. She won the national title in the 80 m hurdles in 1948, and was part of the Australian delegation for the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. There, Strickland finished third in both the 100m and 80m hurdles and won a silver medal in the 4x100m relay.
After winning three gold medals in the 1950 British Empire Games, she won her first Olympic title at the 1952 Games in Helsinki. She earned her gold medal in the 80m hurdles, blitzing the field in world record time (10.9). An unfortunate baton mix up cost her a second gold in the 4x100m relay. In the 100 m, she again won the bronze.
She set a new world record of 11.3 for the 100m in Poland in 1955, and in the 1956 Olympics she won gold again in the 80m hurdles and with the Australian 4x100m relay team.
She maintained her Olympic involvement in athlete administration with the Australian teams, during the 1968 and 1976 Olympics in Mexico City and Montreal. She was also active in politics: standing as a candidate for the Australian Democrats and being a spokesperson for a number of environmental groups.
External link
- Extensive biography and statistics (http://www.geocities.com/geetee/bios/shirl.html)