1956 Athletics Betty Cuthbert

DA's Australian Sports History by DA

Episode notes

The Golden girl of Australian athletics was a shy, unassuming teenager from Western Sydney.

Inspired by her teacher (a former Olympian), Betty Cuthbert discovered running.

And she had a special talent. Betty would win races at school, in inter club meetings and then nationally. So much so that at age 18 years, Betty was selected to run the 100m & 200m events for Australia in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

Betty would star in those Games.

After that there was a period of adversity. But with the support of her strong Christian faith, Betty made a comeback to race in the 1964 Olympic Games at Tokyo. This famous return to the track in the 400m event is legendary in Australian sports history.

But, Betty's biggest test in life came after she has ceased competing. Betty was diagnosed with MS. She used her profile  ... 

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Keywords
sporthistoryaustralian