Charlie Booth (1 October 1903 – 20 May 2008)
[Vale Charlie Booth 1903–2008]
was an Australian athlete.
Career
In the 1930s, he was a champion runner who participated in several
Stawell Gift
The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short-distance running race. It is the main event in an annual carnival held on Easter weekend by the Stawell Athletic Club, with the main race finals on the holiday Monday, at Central Park, St ...
s, until a victory in 1939. He was also a
fitter and turner
A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling ...
apprentice. Booth is widely credited for inventing
starting blocks
Starting blocks are a device used in the sport of track and field by sprint athletes to brace their feet against at the start of a race so they do not slip as they stride forward at the sound of the starter's pistol. The blocks also enable the sp ...
for
sprinting races, along with his father.
[
When he first used his invention in a race, made from a T-bar and a block of wood cut in half, he was disqualified for life. The decision was overturned a few weeks later.
At age 100, Booth gave a rare interview about his long and successful life.
In 2006, the then 102-year-old wanted to run in a special Stawell Gift over-40s race, with the prize being a ]pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
, but in the end he decided against it.[
]
Death
In 2007, he celebrated his 104th birthday with a small private party.
References
1903 births
2008 deaths
Australian centenarians
20th-century Australian inventors
Australian male sprinters
Australian masters athletes
Men centenarians
{{Australia-athletics-bio-stub