Olympics
In 1972, Neall had her most successful Australian Championships, winning the 200 m butterfly and the 400 m individual medley in times of 5 m 9.8 s and 2 m 23.2 s respectively and coming second in the 200 m individual medley. She was selected for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, and travelled to the team training camp in Brisbane. She sealed her place in the 200 m butterfly by winning a trial race during the camp, and was entered in both the individual medleys.
Neall missed the final in the 200 m individual medley, her first event, after swimming a personal best of 2 m 29.6 s in coming third in her heat. She placed 14th overall, more than 2.5 s outside the qualifying limit.
Neall was considered an outsider in her pet event, the 400 m individual medley, with Americans Jennifer Bartz, Lyn Vidali and Mary Montgomery, and Canadian Leslie Cliff fancied to take the gold medal. Neall had a mediocre heat swim; although she won it in a time of 5 m 11.89 s, subsequent heats were faster and she was only sixth fastest. Evelyn Stolze of East Germany was the quickest qualifier in an Olympic record 5 s 6.96 s and Neall was more than three seconds slower than the third fastest qualifier.
Neall initially contested the lead in the butterfly leg with Bartz and Vidali, taking the lead in the second 50 m of the first stroke after the two Americans had led in the first lap. Neall turned at the end of the butterfly in first place in a time of 1 m 8.64 s. She extended her lead to a bodylength at the end of the backstroke leg, before going into the breaststroke, her weakest leg. Despite being expected to falter in the breaststroke, Neall managed to maintain parity, and still narrowly led at the change into freestyle with a split of 3 m 55.51 s, having repelled attack by Cliff and Bartz. Cliff attacked in the first half of the freestyle leg and took a narrow lead at the final turn, before Neall fought back to draw level with 30 meters to go. The pair stroked in tandem for the next ten metres before Neall drew away to win in a time of 5 m 02.97 s. It was a new world record, and improved on her personal best by 7 seconds as the top four finishers all lowered the world record. Neall had defeated Cliff by 0.60 s. Novella Calligaris took bronze, 1.02 s in arrears.
Her victory from lane seven was emulated by Australia's two other female individual swimming gold medallists at Munich: Shane Gould and Beverley Whitfield had won the 200 m individual medley and 200 m breaststroke from lane seven.
In the 200 m butterfly event, Neall qualified for the final, scraping in as the slowest qualifier after posting a time of 2 m 23.21 s to place third in her heat. In the final, she was unable to challenge the winner, Karen Moe, from the United States, who broke her own world record. Neall came seventh in a time of 2 m 21.88 s, more than five seconds outside the medals.
She was a schoolmate of fellow Munich gold medal winning swimmer Shane Gould at Turramurra High School on the north shore of Sydney. Turramurra High School has named two of their sporting houses after Gail Neall and Shane Gould. Overshadowed, she did not receive a civic reception from the local council upon her return to Australia. Her performance at Munich won her the Helms Award as Australasia's outstanding athlete for 1972.
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