Born Guildford, W.A.
18 July, 1925-19 February, 2004
A triple Olympic gold medallist, Shirley de la Hunty was a sprinter and hurdler who proved to be one of the greatest women performers in track and field history.
She won the 80m hurdles at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and again in Melbourne in 1956 when she also collected a gold medal in the 4 x 100m relay.
In London in 1948, she became the first Australian woman to win a track and field medal at the Olympics, taking bronze medals in the 80m hurdles and 100m sprint and silver in the 4 x 100m relay. She repeated her 100m bronze medal success in Helskini
Her effort in winning the 80m hurdles at the 1956 Games made her the first woman athlete to retain an Olympic track and field title.
Shirley de la Hunty’s Olympic tally of seven medals for athletics (three gold, one silver and three bronze) remains unequalled in Olympic history. Her total should have been eight because photographs of the finish of the 200m in 1948 showed that she was third, not fourth, behind American Audrey Patterson.
She set world records in the 80m hurdles of 11 sec and 10.9 sec on successive days in Helskini in 1952 and in the 100m with a time of 11.3 sec in Warsaw in 1955. She was also involved in relay teams that set six world records.
Her performances were not limited to Olympic Games. At the 1950 Empire Games in Auckland, She won the 80m hurdles and was a member of two winning Australian relay teams. She also won silver medals in the 100 and 220 yards, behind Marjorie Jackson.
In recognition of her performances, Shirley de la Hunty won the Helms Award as the outstanding Australasian athlete of 1956 and the following year was awarded the MBE in the Queen’s Honours List.