Betty Cuthbert
Elizabeth Cuthbert (born April 20, 1938 in Sydney) is Australian athlete, and a four-fold Olympic champion.
Betty Cuthbert began sprinting in high school. At age 18, with the 1956 Summer Olympics to be held in Melbourne, Cuthbert set a World Record in the 200 m, making her a big favourite for a gold in that event. Cuthbert first reached the final of the 100 m, while the Australian World Record holder Shirley Strickland de la Hunty was eliminated in the heats. Cuthbert won the final and was now the big favourite for the 200 m title. She lived up to the expectations, and became the Australian "Golden Girl". A third gold medal for Cuthbert came when she ran the final leg on in the 4 x 100 m final, which the Australian team won in a new World Record.
Cuthbert also competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics, but disappointed when she was eliminated in the heats of the 100 m; subsequently, she retired from the sports.
Her retirement didn't last long, for she returned at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth. Afterwards, she concentrated on the 400 m, and competed in that event in the 1964 Summer Olympics, when it was on the Olympic program for the first time. Though not impressive in the heats, Cuthbert won the title for her fourth Olympic gold medal, beating Anne Packer of Great Britain into second. She retired from the sport after that.
| Olympic medalists in athletics (women) | Olympic Champions in Women's 100 m |
| Betty Robinson | Stanislawa Walasiewicz | Helen Stephens | Fanny Blankers-Koen | Marjorie Jackson | Betty Cuthbert | Wilma Rudolph | Wyomia Tyus | Renate Stecher | Annegret Richter | Lyudmila Kondratyeva | Evelyn Ashford | Florence Griffith Joyner | Gail Devers | Marion Jones | Yulia Nesterenko |
| Olympic medalists in athletics (women) | Olympic Champions in Women's 200 m |
| Fanny Blankers-Koen | Marjorie Jackson | Betty Cuthbert | Wilma Rudolph | Edith McGuire | Irena Szewinska | Renate Stecher | Bärbel Eckert Wöckel (twice) | Valerie Brisco-Hooks | Florence Griffith Joyner | Gwen Torrence | Marie-José Perec | Marion Jones | Veronica Campbell |
| Olympic medalists in athletics (women) | Olympic Champions in Women's 400 m |
| Betty Cuthbert | Colette Besson | Monika Zehrt | Irena Szewińska | Marita Koch | Valerie Brisco-Hooks | Olga Bryzgina | Marie-José Perec (twice) | Cathy Freeman | Tonique Williams-Darling |
| Olympic medalists in athletics (women) | Olympic Champions in Women's 4x100 m relay |
| 1928 Canada Fanny Rosenfeld, Ethel Smith, Florence Bell & Myrtle Cook 1932 United States Mary Carew, Evelyn Furtsch, Annette Rogers & Wilhelmina Von Bremen 1936 United States Harriet Bland, Annette Rogers, Betty Robinson & Helen Stephens 1948 Netherlands Xenia Stad-de Jong, Netty Witziers-Timmer, Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs & Fanny Blankers-Koen 1952 United States Mae Faggs, Barbara Jones, Janet Moreau & Catherine Hardy 1956 Australia Shirley Strickland, Norma Croker, Fleur Mellor & Betty Cuthbert 1960 United States Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams, Barbara Jones & Wilma Rudolph 1964 Poland Teresa Wieczorek, Irena Kirszenstein, Halina Richter & Ewa Kłobukowska 1968 United States Barbara Ferrell, Margaret Bailes, Mildrette Netter & Wyomia Tyus 1972 West Germany Christiane Krause, Ingrid Mickler, Annegret Richter & Heidemarie Rosendahl 1976 East Germany Marlies Oelsner, Renate Stecher, Carla Bodendorf & Bärbel Eckert 1980 East Germany Romy Müller, Bärbel Wöckel, Ingrid Auerswald & Marlies Göhr 1984 United States Alice Brown, Jeanette Bolden, Chandra Cheeseborough & Evelyn Ashford 1988 United StatesAlice Brown, Sheila Echols, Florence Griffith Joyner & Evelyn Ashford 1992 United States Evelyn Ashford, Esther Jones, Carlette Guidry & Gwen Torrence 1996 United States Gail Devers, Inger Miller, Chryste Gaines & Gwen Torrence 2000 Bahamas Sevatheda Fynes, Chandra Sturrup, Pauline Davis & Debbie Ferguson 2004 Jamaica Tayna Lawrence, Sherone Simpson, Aleen Bailey & Veronica Campbell |
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