Jane Kara Saville (born 5 November 1974) is an Australian race walker who won a bronze medal at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. She was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Saville, from an athletically inclined family, competed in swimming, surf lifesaving, and walking as a junior athlete. She has competed at four Olympics, with a midfield result in 1996. In the 20 km racewalking event at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in her home city of Sydney, when heading into the stadium's tunnel for the final stretch, Saville was disqualified for an illegal gait (''lifting'', a very common occurrence in race walking; the previous leader of the event had already been disqualified). Saville collapsed in tears. Afterwards, when asked what she needed, she replied: "A gun to shoot myself". Saville recovered her composure soon after and was publicly philosophical about her loss. On her bronze medal in Athens, Saville stated: "Nothing will make up for a gold medal in your home town, but you know this is where the Olympics began and any medal here, you know, I'm absolutely ecstatic with it". Saville has won three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games: in the 10-kilometre walk in 1998 and in the 20-kilometre walk in 2002 and 2006. She has won the Australian women's race walking championship five times. She was the Australian flagbearer at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. She is coached by her husband, professional cyclist Matt White. She splits her time between Sydney and Oliva,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Her sister, Natalie Saville, is also a race walker and finished second to her at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Saville announced her retirement from competitive racewalking in February 2009, with her future plans including continued work in community health and fitness promotion and a role on the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

racewalking technical committee. Saville has completed a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in social sciences from the University of New South Wales. Both Jane and her sister Natalie Saville live in the City of Randwick Local Government Area. Together with Natalie, Jane was presented with the Keys to the City of Randwick on 22 October 2002 by Mayor Dominic Sullivan in recognition of outstanding achievement in sport.

Personal life

Saville is married to former professional cyclist Matt White and lives in

with their three children. She is a supporter of her hometown

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

club the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Notes

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