Norma Claire Thrower (born 5 February 1936) is a retired

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 ...

hurdler 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, ...

. Born as Norma Austin, the

South Australian South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

hurdler ran for the Western Districts club in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. At the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

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 ...

, Australia she won the bronze medal over

80 metres hurdles 80 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling ran by women until 1972 in international competitions. Since the 1972 Summer Olympics, the event has been permanently replaced by the 100 metre hurdles. Masters athletics The distance, with different sp ...

behind countrywoman

Shirley Strickland Shirley Barbara de la Hunty AO, MBE (née Strickland; 18 July 1925 – 11 February 2004), known as Shirley Strickland during her early career, was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in running sports. ...

(gold) and German

Gisela Köhler Gisela Birkemeyer (née Köhler on 22 December 1931) is a retired German sprint runner who won two medals in the 80 m hurdles at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics. During her career she set nine world records in the 80 m hurdles and in the 4×100 m, 4� ...

(silver). At the

1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18–26 July 1958. Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,130 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

she again won the 80m hurdles event, this time ahead of

Carole Quinton Carole Louise Quinton (born 11 July 1936) is a female former English track and field athlete, who won silver medals at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, 1958 European Athletics Championships and 1960 Summer Olympics. Athletics c ...

(silver) and countrywoman Gloria Wigney (bronze). At the Australian championships she won a silver medal in 1952, a bronze in 1954 and gold medals in 1956, 1958 and 1960. Thrower set a world record of 10.6 seconds for 80 metres hurdles in 1960, but could not make the final at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

References

1936 births Living people Australian female hurdlers Olympic athletes for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) 21st-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Sportswomen from South Australia {{Australia-Olympic-medalist-stub