Winsome Cripps (later Dennis, 9 February 1931 – 30 May 1997) was an Australian sprinter who competed at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

and the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fi ...

. In 1952, Cripps competed in the Australian National Championships, and finished third in the 100 yard race and second place in the 220 yards and so was picked for the Australian Athletics Olympic team. At the

, Cripps was unlucky to come away without a medal, in 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 ...

she won her first round heat in 12 seconds, then came third in her second round race, luckily the first three from each heat qualified for the semi-finals, in her semi-final she again ran in a time of 12 seconds and finished behind fellow

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 ...

Marjorie Jackson Marjorie Jackson-Nelson (13 September 1931) is a former Governor of South Australia and a former Australian athlete. She finished her sporting career with two Olympic and seven Commonwealth Games Gold Medals, six individual world records and ...

who ran an equalling World Record time of 11.5 seconds, in the final she ran her best time of 11.9 seconds but only managed to finish in fourth place. A couple of days later she competed in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

, in her first round heat she finished second and qualified for the next round where again she finished second, and in the final she yet again finished in fourth place. Cripps last event was the

4 x 100 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

and with her team mates

, Verna Johnston and

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. ...

they broke the World Record in their heat running a time off 46.1 seconds, in the final they were ahead until when Cripps (on the third leg) passed the baton to Jackson, somehow Cripps knee hit the baton in Jackson's hand and it fell to the floor, even though it bounced up and Jackson caught it time had been lost and they ended up finishing fifth and to make things worse the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

quartet broke the World Record. Two years later she competed in the

, this time she returned home with silver medals in the

100 yards 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit (measurement), unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment ...

and the 220 yard races and with Gwen Wallace,

Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Marjorie Jackson-Nelson (13 September 1931) is a former Governor of South Australia and a former Australian athlete. She finished her sporting career with two Olympic and seven Commonwealth Games Gold Medals, six individual world records an ...

and Nancy Fogarty she won gold in the 4 x 110 yards relay. Cripps retired from athletics shortly after failing to be picked for 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cripps, Winsome 1931 births 1997 deaths Australian female sprinters Olympic athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Place of birth missing