Charlene Rendina (née Neighbor; born 18 December 1947) is a retired Australian
athlete
An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance.
Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...
who specialised in
sprint
Sprint may refer to:
Aerospace
*Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design
*Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile
Automotive and motorcycle
*Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989
*Chevrolet Sprint, ...
and middle distance events.
Her personal best time of 1:59.0 (hand timed) in the
800 metres
The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...
Catriona Bisset
Catriona Bisset (born 1 March 1994) is an Australian middle-distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. She holds the Oceanian record for both indoors and outdoors in the event, and won the gold medal at the 2019 Universiade.
Bisset to ...
broke it in July 2019.
Competitive results
In Rendina's first
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
competition in Munich, 1972, she set an Olympic record (51.90 seconds in her heat) on her way to the
400 metres
The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...
final, where she eventually finished in sixth place in 51.99 seconds. She was also in the final of the 4 × 400 m relay where she ran a 50.7 leg for the Australian team that came in 6th in 3:28.84.
At the
1974 Commonwealth Games
The 1974 British Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1974 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Christchurch, New Zealand from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The Games were off ...
, she moved up to the
800 metres
The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...
distance and took gold.
At the 1976 Olympics, Redina was eliminated after finishing 5th in the 800m semi-final in 2:00.29. She was part of the Australian 4 × 400 m relay team that finished 4th in 3:25.56 – her leg being timed at 51.6 seconds.
In her career, Rendina won five
national championship
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...