Why? She has won more Olympic Medals than any other Australian athlete – which seems to us like a good enough reason.
Shirley was born, a farm girl, in 1925 – the second oldest of dive children. The town of Pithara in Western Australia’s wheat belt had no idea of the talent they were about to nurture.
Yet she had pedigree: her father, Dave, has been an athlete: the only thing that had stopped him from taking part in the 1900 Olympics in Paris was the distance and the money that would have had to be spent to get him there.
Shirley would set the record straight for her family - and for Australia too.
The University of Western Australia was her next stop – she graduated from there in 1946 and wnt on to lecture in physics and mathematics at Perth Technical College. While there she was the wing in the hockey team but what really marked her out was her ability as a hurdler and sprinter. The former world professional sprint champion, Austin Robertson, coached her during her time at Perth.
In 1948 she took the national title in the 80m. That gave her a ticket to the first post Second World War Summer Olympics in London where she competed in the 100m, 80m hurdles and took part in the 4x100 relay. She came third in her solo events, taking silver with the team in the relay.
The British Empire was on the wane but that did not stop her from taking three gold medals at the Games in 1950. Following this up, she participated in the 1950 Helsinki games where a gold medal in the 80m hurdles beckoned – a world record time of 10.9 seconds. She also collected silver and bronze in the 4x100m relay and the 100m hurdles.
Another world record was beaten in 1955 where she was times at 11.3 seconds for the 100m hurdles. The Olympics of 1956 on home territory in Melbourne brought gold in both the 80m hurdles and the 4.100m relay.
Following her athletic career she became fully involved with athlete administration in the Olympic movement and participated in this role in the 1968 and 1976 Olympics in Mexico and Canada. She was one of the torch bearers at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia in 2000.
The following year she gained some notoriety when she sold off all her memorabilia, including her Olympic medals. The collection was acquired by the MCG Museum in Melbourne, purchased but a group of business people who remained anonymous but who, like Shirley, wished to see her outstanding collection remain in Australia.
