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Australian Heroes |
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Edwin Flack
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The owner and operator of a dairy farm, Edwin Flack,
won Australia's first Olympic gold medals in 1896, the first Olympic Games.
Flack won the 800 and 1500 meter events. The Australian Olympic Committee
named a street after him, Edwin Flack Street, due to his importance in
Australian athletic history.
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Herb Elliot
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Herb Elliot was coached by the famous Australian,
Percy Cerutty. Part of Cerutty's focus was running up and down sand dunes,
and he emphasized healthy foods in his athletes. It worked for Elliot, who
went on to win the 1500 at the 1960 Rome Games by the largest margin of any
previous Olympic victor in this event.
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Betty Cuthbert
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Australia's "Golden Girl" was born in 1938 along with
her twin sister, Marie. Cuthbert competed in two Olympic Games 8 years apart
due to an injury sustained just before the 1960 Games. In 1981, Cuthbert was
sadly diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis but helps fight this terrible
disease to this day.
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Shirley Strickland de la
Hunty
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Strickland's father may have been a great sprinter,
but she lives on through her own superb accomplishments. Strickland appeared
in the 1948, 1952, and 1956 Olympics, earning 3 golds, 1 silver, and 2
bronzes. She set or equaled 5 world records and was a part of 5 relay teams
that did the same.
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Marjorie Jackson
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Marjorie Jackson has done everything
from launching a leukemia research program to governing Australia for 6
years to having a very impressive sprinting career in which she earned 2
Olympics gold medals, 7 Commonwealth gold medals, and 10 world records. She
won every State and National Title she contested from 1950 to 1954. There is
a road named after her in Sydney's Olympic Park.
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Ron Clarke
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Arguably the greatest distance runner
to ever come from Australia never even won an Olympic gold. Ron Clarke is,
however, credited with 17 world records and earned another that was not recognized.
His best time for 5000 meters was 13:16.6, set in Stockholm, and his fastest
10,000 was 27:39.4 in Oslo. He held records in events ranging from the 2
mile to the 20 km and even a 1 hour race in which he covered 20,232 meters.
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John Landy
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The governor of Victoria, Australia, used to be a
monumental force in Australian athletics. John Landy, born on April 12,
1930, was a part of the race the changed the world. He watched from second
place as Sir Roger Bannister became the first man to ever defy science and
break the four-minute-mile. Landy became the second to do so on June 21,
1954 in Finland.
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Raelene Boyle
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Born in 1951, Raelene Boyle was
possibly the most resilient athlete to ever grace Australian soil. She was
"a fighter, possessed of an irrepressible, larrikin spirit that somehow
equipped her to bounce back from the harsh and varied setbacks" she endured.
This includes a 2nd place finish at the 1972 Olympics to an athlete who
doped and two false starts 4 years later, disqualifying her from the 200.
Through all of her misfortunes, she still managed to impress the great Jesse
Owens. "I have not seen a girl so beautifully balanced.”
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Robert de Castella
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Castella won the 1983 World Marathon
Championships with a time of 2:09:18. He finished a full 12 seconds ahead of
2nd place finisher Juma Ikangaa of Tanzania and nearly 3 minutes
before Mike Gratton of England. His other accomplishments include Golds at
the 1982 and 1986 Commonwealth Games Marathon.
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Cathy Freeman
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Freeman received her first gold medal
when she was just 8 years old. She overcame discrimination from white
Australians and earned a scholarship to Kooralbyn International School.
Freeman's Olympic career inclined from there. She went from not making the
400 finals in 1992 to earning a silver in 1996 to winning gold in the 2000 Olympic Games at her home country in
Sydney, Australia.
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