Avis Fletcher (formerly McIntosh, née Brain; born 19 May 1938) is a former New Zealand hurdler and sprinter.

Life

She joined Lynndale Amateur Athletic and Harrier Club in the children's division in the 12- to 13-year-old age group. She also ran for Glen Eden, Waitemata and Owairaka Athletic Club. At Avondale College in 1953, she won the 100 yards senior girls when she was 14. From 1954 to 1956 McIntosh won the Auckland Championship two and-a-half mile cross country and the Hamilton road race. After winning her first New Zealand title in 1958, and not being selected for Cardiff's Empire Games, McIntosh was chosen to represent New Zealand from 1959 to 1965. In 1962, McIntosh was selected for the 7th British Empire and Commonwealth Games at Perth. She competed in the 80m hurdles and relay. McIntosh was first in the 80m hurdles heat, beating the world record holder in 10.8 sec, the new Commonwealth Games record. At the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games she won the bronze medal in the women's

80 m hurdles 80 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling ran by women until 1972 in international competitions. Since the 1972 Summer Olympics, the event has been permanently replaced by the 100 metre hurdles. Masters athletics The distance, with different sp ...

. She also won a bronze medal as part of the women's 4 x 110 yards relay team. Her teammates in the relay were Nola Bond, Molly Cowan and Doreen Porter. An interesting tale is that

Murray Halberg Sir Murray Gordon Halberg (7 July 1933 – 30 November 2022) was a New Zealand middle-distance runner who won the gold medal in the 5000 metres event at the 1960 Olympics. He also won gold medals in the 3 miles events at the 1958 and 1962 Com ...

lost her medal in the toilets and had to be told to go back and find it. On 18 March 1964 at the Lovelock track in Auckland, McIntosh won the 80m hurdles in 10.7 sec. It was the fastest time ever by a New Zealand women's athlete. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, McIntosh was third in the 80m hurdles heat in 10.8 sec. She was fifth in the semi-final in 10.9 sec and 10th fastest overall. In the 100 yards, McIntosh was fourth in her heat and sixth in the quarter final. This event no longer exists. A very fine all-round athlete, her skills ranged from hurdling, running, jumping, cross-country and pentathlon. She won 24 Auckland titles including 10 straight in the 80m hurdles from 1956 to 1965. She also won the long jump five times, pentathlon three times and high jump, 75 yards and 100 yards once each. When she was 40, McIntosh competed in the World Veteran Games and won the 80m hurdles and was second in the 100 yards. McIntosh has records for long jump, high jump, 100 metres, hammer, and discus all achieved at 50 years of age. She then went on to get the records for discus, high jump, hammer, javelin & long jump at 60 years old! McIntosh competed at one

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

in 1964 in the 100 metres and 80 metre hurdles. In 2009 she, then named Avis Fletcher was honoured again in a ceremony to recognise New Zealand's Olympians. She was married to Matty with three children and she had run two farms.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntosh, Avis 1938 births Olympic athletes for New Zealand New Zealand female sprinters Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics New Zealand female hurdlers Living people Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games