Maureen Caird (born 29 September 1951) is an Australian former track

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

, who specialised in the sprint

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

. At the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

, she became the youngest-ever individual Olympic athletics champion at the time, at age 17, when she won gold in Mexico City.Athletics Australia profile

Early career

Born in

Cumberland, New South Wales Cumberland County is a county in the State of New South Wales, Australia. Most of the Sydney metropolitan area is located within the County of Cumberland. The County of Cumberland stretches from Broken Bay to the north, the Hawkesbury River to ...

, Caird began competing in athletics as a teenager, trained by the former coach of quadruple Olympic champion

Betty Cuthbert Elizabeth Alyse Cuthbert, (20 April 1938 – 6 August 2017) was an Australian athlete and a four-time Olympic champion. She was nicknamed Australia's "Golden Girl". During her career, she set world records for 60 metres, 100 yards, 200 metres ...

, June Ferguson. Caird competed in several events, but the 80 m hurdles was her best. In 1967 she won both the junior (under 18) 80 metre hurdles and

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...

at the Australian Championships. In the 1968 Championships, she defended her junior hurdles crown and also won the

Long Jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. Caird also competed in senior events, placing second in both the 80 metres and

100 metres hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten Hurdling, hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first h ...

behind

Pam Kilborn Pamela Kilborn-Ryan, AM, MBE (born 12 August 1939) is an Australian former athlete who set world records as a hurdler. For three years, she was ranked as the world's top woman hurdler. Kilborn was also an Olympic class sprinter, Long Jumper ...

who was rated as the world's best female hurdler. Caird's performances earned her selection in the Australian team to compete at the

International career

At the Games, Caird, only 17 at the time, was the youngest member of the Australian team.Competition was very strong with defending champion Karin Balzer(East Germany)and World record holder Vera Korsakova (10.2 hand timed) from the USSR. Soon to be superstar Chi Cheng from Taiwan was also in this race. Both Maureen and her rival Pamela Kilborn made the final, which was held in wet conditions. To the surprise of most observers, Maureen crossed the line just .07secs ahead of her fellow Australian, in a new electronic

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

time of 10.39. This upset made Maureen Caird the youngest individual Olympic champion in athletics (at the time, that record was broken by

Ulrike Meyfarth Ulrike Nasse-Meyfarth (; born 4 May 1956) is a German former high jumper. She won the Olympic title twice, in 1972 and 1984. She is the youngest Olympic champion ever in women's high jump, and at the time of her 1984 triumph, she also was the o ...

in 1972) and earned her the world number one ranking.Because this was the last time the 80m event was contested, Maureen's Olympic record will last forever. At the 1970

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, she finished second behind Kilborn in the 100 m hurdles(which had replaced the 80 m internationally)—this was despite suffering from

glandular fever In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

during the event. Prior to these Games Maureen had won the 1970 Australian titles in both the 100m and 200m hurdles,defeating Pamela Kilborn and setting world records in the latter on 2 occasions. Her attempt to defend her Olympic title in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

was unsuccessful and she did not make it past the heats.Maureen ran the first leg for Australia in the 4x100m relay and they finished 6th in the final. Maureen Caird retired due to stomach pains that were later diagnosed as

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 ...

Personal life

Caird, now married as Maureen Jones, currently lives in Australia.

Honours

Caird was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

in 1986. In 2000, she received an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caird, Maureen 1951 births Living people Australian female hurdlers Sportswomen from New South Wales Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia Olympic gold medalists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games