Doreen Helen Porter (born 21 July 1941), later Doreen Porter-Shann, is a former sprinter from New Zealand. She won a silver medal in the women's 100 yards and was a member of the bronze medal winning 4 x 100 yards relay team at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. In April 1964 Porter set the record for the fastest women's 220 yard race held in the United States. In October of that year she also competed in the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Early life

Porter was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

on the 21st of July 1941. While in high school she competed in gymnastics, diving and in 100- and 220-yard races. While a teenager she joined the Western Suburbs Athletic & Harrier Club.

Sports career

In 1961 Porter set the New Zealand resident record for the 100 yard sprint. At the

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. The ...

she won the silver medal in the women's

100 yards 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit (measurement), unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment ...

. 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

Avis McIntosh 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 ra ...

. In 1963 she was unable to take up an invitation to attend a running meet in Los Angeles with

Peter Snell Sir Peter George Snell (17 December 1938 – 12 December 2019) was a New Zealand middle-distance runner. He won three Olympic gold medals, and is the only man since 1920 to have won the 800 and 1500 metres at the same Olympics, in 1964. Snell ...

as New Zealand athletics administrators required her to be accompanied by a chaperone. The Auckland Star newspaper then started a fund raising campaign to send her to compete with the New Zealand Amateur Athletics Association agreeing to the trip if her expenses were paid by subscription. The fundraising campaign successfully obtained the necessary funds to send Porter to the United States. In April of 1964 Porter competed in Los Angeles and set the United States record for women for the 220 yard race. Porter competed in 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 var ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

in 1964 making the quarter-final and semi-final of the 100 and 200 metres respectively. Porter's competitive running career was halted as a result of injury.

After sports career

In 1980 she married and moved with her husband to the United States. She is now an artist.

References

1941 births Olympic athletes for New Zealand New Zealand female sprinters Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand 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 Living people Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games {{NewZealand-athletics-bio-stub