Tania Murray Haigh (formerly Dixon, née Murray; born 3 October 1970) is a former New Zealand

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er and

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

er. She won the gold medal in the women's high jump representing her country at the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

, and won eight national athletic championship titles.

Early life

Murray was born in Ranfurly on 3 October 1970. As a child she suffered from several illnesses, including

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...

rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a streptococcal throat infection. Signs and symptoms include fever, multiple painful jo ...

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 ...

and growths of her knees. Encouraged by her doctor to become more active, she joined the

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

Athletics Club. Murray was educated at

Maniototo Area School Maniototo Area School is an area school in Ranfurly, Central Otago, New Zealand, serving students aged 5–18. Founded in 1879,''From Eweburn to Maniototo Area School, 125 Years of Change'' - Jack Rutherford it has students as of The school ha ...

, and then

Logan Park High School Logan Park High School is a high school founded in 1974 in Dunedin, New Zealand. It has a roll of around 700 students with a teaching staff of about 50, with some 18 further auxiliary and administrative staff. History The school was built on ...

after moving with her family to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

Athletics

National championships

As a junior, Murray competed in

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...

events, as well as in 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 ...

, high jump and triple jump. Representing Otago at the national athletic championships, she won the under-18 high jump in 1988, the under-20 100 metres hurdles and high jump in 1989, and the under-20 100 metres, 200 metres and high jump in 1990. Murray was New Zealand women's high jump champion in 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1997, and was New Zealand

champion in 1994, 1997, and 1999.

Commonwealth Games

Murray represented New Zealand in the high jump at the 1990 Commonwealth Games 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 ...

. Murray and Janet Boyle from Northern Ireland were the two of the six athletes to jump 1.88 metres, but then both all failed to clear 1.91 metres. As Murray and Boyle were the only two to clear 1.88 metres at their first attempts, they went into a jump-off to decide the gold and silver medals. After a dramatic jump-off, Murray eventually emerged victorious, and took the gold medal. Despite achieving the 'A' qualifying standard in the high jump for the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

with a personal best height of 1.92 metres, Murray was controversially not nominated for the New Zealand Olympic team by

Athletics New Zealand Athletics New Zealand (ANZ) is the national governing body for athletics in New Zealand. This includes responsibility for Track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking. History The organisation was founded in 1887 as the ...

. Murray again competed in the high jump at the 1994 Commonwealth Games at

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, finishing fourth on a countback with the bronze medallist

Debbie Marti Deborah Jane Marti (born 14 May 1968) is a former high jumper from England, who was born in Switzerland. She represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Barcelona 1992 and Athletics at the 1996 Summer ...

from England, after both athletes had a best height of 1.91 metres. Following the 1994 Games, Murray moved to Melbourne for a time and concentrated on the triple jump. She qualified for the inaugural Commonwealth Games women's triple jump event in 1998, but was injured while attempting to qualify for the high jump. She subsequently retired from athletics competition.

National records / personal bests

In 1991, Murray set the New Zealand record for the women's high jump of , and in 1997 set the national record of . , her New Zealand high jump record still stands.

Later life

Murray married Greg Dixon, and they had two children. They moved to the United States in the late 1990s, but Murray returned to New Zealand after their marriage ending, finding employment as the sports coordinator at Cromwell College for five years. In about 2015, she started her own dressmaking business, having completed a course at

Otago Polytechnic Otago Polytechnic was a public New Zealand tertiary education institute, centred in Dunedin with additional campuses in Cromwell and Auckland. Otago Polytechnic provided career-focused education and training, offering a range of New Zealand accr ...

after leaving school. She remarried, to Russ Haigh, and the couple have a house renovation business in

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Tania 1970 births Living people People from Ranfurly, New Zealand New Zealand female high jumpers Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games New Zealand female triple jumpers Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics People educated at Logan Park High School People educated at Maniototo Area School New Zealand women in business Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games