Clara Decima Hamilton (),

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(9 September 1909 – 29 August 1983) was an Australian athlete. She was the only Australian woman who won five gold medals at the

1938 British Empire Games The 1938 British Empire Games was the third British Empire Games, the event that evolved to become the Commonwealth Games. Held in Sydney, Australia from 5–12 February 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 yea ...

Biography

Norman was born on 9 September 1909 in

Tammin, Western Australia Tammin is a town in the central agricultural region of Western Australia, east of Perth and midway between the towns of Cunderdin and Kellerberrin on the Great Eastern Highway. The surrounding areas produce wheat and other cereal crops. The ...

. Her parents died when she was young, and she was adopted by her brother and his wife, who lived in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. She participated in several sports at school, and was named champion athlete at Perth College in 1923. A lack of organised competition and training for female athletes in the 1920s saw Norman take up

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

, although she continued to train herself in track and field athletics until 1932, when she was spotted by former professional athlete Frank Preston, who saw her potential and offered to train her. Norman's improving times, and several victories in the WA state titles, prompted Preston to consider her to represent Australia in the 1934 Empire Games to be held in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. However, to compete at the games, she needed to be a member of the Women's Amateur Athletic Association of Australia, and in turn a West Australian women's athletics club, none of which existed. Norman eventually managed to establish such a club and join the WAAAA, but too late for her to qualify for the 1934 Empire Games or even the 1936 Summer Olympics in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. The efforts of Norman and Preston paid off, as several women's athletics clubs formed in WA, resulting in the state sending a women's team for the first time to the 1937 National Athletics Championships in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Norman's performance in Melbourne qualified her to compete in the

, to be held in Sydney. Norman was the first Australian to win a gold medal in Sydney, with an 11.1 second time in the 100 yard sprint. She followed this up with a win in the final leg of the 440 yard medley relay, an Empire record-breaking long jump, the 220 yard sprint, and the 660 yard relay. She established herself as the premier athlete of the event, Australia's first athletics 'golden girl'. Her record five gold medals in a single games was not equalled until 1990, when swimmer

Hayley Lewis Hayley (pronounced ) is an English given name. It is derived from the English surname Haley, which in turn was based on an Old English toponym, a compound of ''heg'' "hay" and ''leah'' "clearing or meadow".Katie Martin-Doyle, ''The Treasury of ...

took five golds in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, and not beaten until Susie O'Neill won six golds in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

in 1998. Norman remained in Sydney, to begin training for the next Olympics, however her further athletic ambitions were blunted, when the 1940 Olympics were cancelled due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. She last competed (for New South Wales) at the 1940 National Championships in Perth. After retiring, she married

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player Eric Hamilton. She was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

1983 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1983 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

,Australia list: and was the custodian of the Commonwealth Games Baton in the same year, flying the Queen's Baton from London to the 1982 Commonwealth Games in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. She died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; nys, Kinjarling) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a ...

on 29 August 1983.

References

External links

*
Clara 'Decima' Norman
at Australian Athletics Historical Results * {{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Decima 1909 births 1983 deaths Australian female long jumpers Australian female sprinters Sportswomen from Western Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1938 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from cancer in Western Australia People educated at Perth College (Western Australia) People from the Wheatbelt (Western Australia) 20th-century Australian women Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Medallists at the 1938 British Empire Games