World Records
The first Australian to set a ratified world record was Triple Jumper Nick Winter at the 1924 Paris Olympics, with the first official female record-holder Decima Norman, who equalled the 100 yards world record in New Zealand, in 1939.
Distance runner Ron Clarke is still the most successful Australian athlete in terms of setting world records, with seventeen official records from Two-Miles to the 'One-Hour run' between 1963 and 1968. Pole Vaulter Emma George is the most successful female Australian record-breaker, setting eleven world records from 1995 to 1999.
Nathan Deakes set the most recent world record in Australia, at Geelong on 2 December 2006 when he recorded a time of 3-35.47 for the 50 km walk.
Other famous athletics world records set in Australia include:
- Men's Javelin - 85.71m - Egil Danielsen - Melbourne, 1956
- Women's 400 metres - 47.60 - Marita Koch - Canberra, 1985 (current world record)
- Women's 4 x 100 metres relay - 41.37 - GDR - Canberra, 1985 (current world record)
Read more about this topic: Athletics In Australia
Famous quotes containing the words world and/or records:
“I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage, with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post which any human power can give.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“It’s always the generals with the bloodiest records who are the first to shout what a hell it is. And it’s always the war widows who lead the Memorial Day parades.”
—Paddy Chayefsky (1923–1981)