Dianne Burge (née Bowering), (born 9 October 1943) is a former

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 ...

n sprinter who competed in two

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and won three gold medals at the

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. She was awarded the title

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n 'Athlete of the Century' by

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Early athletics career

In 1963,

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sprinter Diane Bowering won the Australian 100-yard Championships in an upset. She was virtually unknown outside her home state but ended the year ranked as #3 in the world. She competed for Adelaide Harriers and was coached by Len Barnes who nicknamed her 'the twerp'Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Peter Goers' interview with Di Burge

International athletics career

A year later, Bowering ran second in the national 100y title and earned a place in the Australian team for the

1964 Summer Olympic Games The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this hon ...

in Tokyo. At the Games, she did not progress past the second round of the 100 metres, but made the final of the 4 × 100 metres relay with the Australian team.Athletics Australia profile
/ref> Now married and running as Dianne Burge, she starred in the

1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth P ...

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, winning gold medals at 100 yards, 220 yards and in the 4x110 yards relay. At the end of the year, she was world-ranked #6 for 100 metres and #5 for 200 metres. In 1967, she won the 100 m and 200 m at the

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versus British Commonwealth meet in

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, beating Olympic champion

Wyomia Tyus Wyomia Tyus (pronunciation: ''why-o-mi''; born August 29, 1945) is a retired American track and field sprinter, and the first person to retain the Olympic title in the 100 m (a feat since duplicated by Carl Lewis, Gail Devers, Shelly-Ann Fraser ...

and was ranked #2 in the world for 100 m and #3 for 200 m by

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. Burge won the sprint double at the 1968 Australian Championships, running fast times of 11.3 and 23.0 with the 100 metres time a new Australian record. Considered a medal favourite at the

Mexico 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 was affected by illness in

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and did well to make the 100-metres final, placing sixth. She was ranked sixth in the world for 100 metres, when she retired from the sport in early 1969.

Awards

Burge was awarded the inaugural Sportswomen's Association of Australia (SA Division) 'Sportswoman of the Year' award in 1966.Australian Women biographical profile - Dianne Burge
/ref> She was named as the 'Athlete of the Century' by

Statistics

Personal Bests World Rankings - 100 m and 200 m Australian Championships Record * DNQ=Did not qualify for final (only six athletes per final in this era)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burge, Dianne 1943 births Living people Australian female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Place of birth missing (living people) Australian Athletics Championships winners