As we round out each week of competition, I thought it might be fun to look back on some great Olympic moments - from a very slightly biased Aussie perspective
So for week one I'll shine a light on the original Aussie "Golden Girl", Betty Cuthbert.
Betty won gold in the 100 and 200 metre sprinting events at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, and was part of the gold medal winning 400m relay team at those same games. She then lined up for Australia at the 1960 Games in Rome but suffered an injury after what had been a stellar qualification performance and was forced to withdraw, and also retired from further competition.
"Retirement" didn't last long however, and Betty was back for the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, where she was again part of the gold medal winning Aussie relay team. She backed that up at the 1964 Tokyo Games, where she won gold again in the newly minted 400m event, which made her the only Olympian to ever have won gold in the 100, 200 and 400m sprinting events.
Betty was struck with multiple sclerosis which was diagnosed in 1969 when she was only 31 years old. Not one to be held down, however, she became a tireless campaigner for awareness and an advocate for others also suffering from the disease. She carried the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, pushed in a wheelchair by fellow Aussie sprint star Raelene Boyle...
Betty passed away in 2017, having suffered from dementia in her last few years. Always graceful and humble despite her achievements and her fame, she didn't even tell her dad or her sister about her MS diagnosis for almost 10 years until she just couldn't hide it any longer. To quote journalist Peter FitzSimons who interviewed her in 1997 - "Vale, Golden Girl, Betty Cuthbert. Life delivered you extraordinary highs, and devastating lows. Your humility, serenity, faith and essential goodness never wavered through any of it."
( he makes it look easy!)
