Programme - Shirley Strickland Athletic Carnival, Melville Reserve, 1957

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1957

Subcollections

Overview

Programme showing details of the Shirley Strickland Athletic Carnival Programme held at Melville Reserve on February 24 1957 and sponsored by the Melville Road Board. Programme is in black and red ink on white paper.

Historical information

Shirley Strickland was one of Australia's greatest athletes, winning seven medals in three Olympic Games. Whilst lecturing in mathematics and physics at Perth Technical College, she started to think seriously about athletics. By 1948 she had not only become a national champion sprinter and hurdler, but was also considered to be Australia's top athlete in the team for the London Olympics. Shirley won silver and two bronze medals at her first Olympics. Then, though juggling a full-time job, a new marriage and her athletics training schedule, she qualified for the 1952 Australian Olympic team and she won her first Olympic gold medal. At 30 years of age, she was encouraged to retire to make room for the next generation of competitors. But her determination led to a further two gold medals in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Shirley continued as an athletics coach, served two periods as a City of Melville Councillor and was a mother to four children.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-137-M2002.51

Item type

Programmes

Themes

People
Social History

Material

Paper

Width

135 mm

Height or length