Edith (Edie) Frances Robinson (26 February 1906 – 7 October 2000) was the first

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n female

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete to compete at an

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 ...

. In the 1928 Amsterdam Games, the first to feature women's athletics events, Robinson was run out in the semi-finals of the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and the heats of 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 ...

.Australian Dictionary of Biography - Edith Robinson
/ref> Though Robinson had never before competed in an 800m race, she was urged to run by her male Olympic colleagues. Later, Robinson won

Australian Championships The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

over 100 yards (1935) and 220 yards (1933/1935/1936), but never again represented Australia. In 1934, she unofficially tied the world record for 100 yards of 11.0 seconds and, through her career, set Australian records from 100 to 440 yards. During the

Sydney 2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, as Australia's oldest living Olympian, Robinson was awarded the honour of officially opening the Olympic Village. She died on 7 October 2000, six days after the end of the Games .

References

External links

Robinson, Edith (1906-2000)
National Library of Australia 1906 births 2000 deaths Olympic athletes for Australia Australian female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Athletes from Sydney 20th-century Australian women Australian Athletics Championships winners {{australia-athletics-bio-stub