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.

Family

Strickland was the only daughter, the second of five children. She grew up on the family farm east of the wheatbelt town of

Pithara, Western Australia Pithara is a small town in the wheatbelt region of Western Australia. It is located about 240 km north of Perth, in the Shire of Dalwallinu. At the , Pithara had a population of 257, a 25% fall from the previous . The name ''Pithara'' wa ...

. Her father,

Dave Strickland David McKenzie Strickland (4 December 1877 – 31 December 1963) was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in A ...

, while working at

Menzies Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...

in the goldfields of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, was also an athlete. He was unable to compete in the 1900 Summer Olympics because he lacked the money for a trip to Paris. Instead, in 1900, he directed his efforts to the Stawell Gift 130-yard (120-m) foot-race, winning in 12 seconds off a handicap of 10 yards. His performance was considered to be as good as those of

Stan Rowley Stanley Rupert Rowley (11 September 1876 – 1 April 1924) was an Australian sprinter who won four medals at the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was born in Young, New South Wales and died in Manly, New South Wales. Biography In 1900 he ...

, who won the Australian amateur sprint titles that season. (Rowley went on to win three bronze medals in the sprints at the 1900 Paris Olympics). Dave Strickland subsequently went on to play one senior game of Australian rules football with Melbourne-based VFL team St Kilda in 1900 and six with WAFL club West Perth spread across the 1901 and 1909 seasons. Her mother, Violet Edith Merry, was American-born with a British mining engineer father and a Norwegian mother.

Education

Strickland's early education was by correspondence. From 1934 to 1937 she attended the newly established local East Pithara School, winning a scholarship to attend Northam High School, where, in 1939, she won 47 out of 49 events as a schoolgirl athlete. After high school, she entered the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

from where in 1946 she graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Physics. In her spare time she lectured in mathematics and physics to returned servicemen at Perth Technical College, played wing in the university hockey team and gained a reputation as an extremely gifted sprinter and hurdler.

Athletic career

The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

was disruptive to women's athletics in Australia. Some runners, including Strickland, enlisted to help the war effort. While teaching at Perth Technical College, she was coached by Austin Robertson, a former world professional sprint champion and

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at ...

footballer. She improved her 100 yards time from 11.8 to 11.0 flat. At the 1947 Western Australia state titles, she won the 100 yards, 220 yards, 440 yards, the 90 m yards hurdles and the shot put. The following year, she took up running seriously, with great success. She won the national title in the 80 m

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, ...

in 1948 and was part of the Australian delegation to the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

in London. There, Strickland finished third in both the 100 m and 80 m hurdles and won a silver medal in the 4×100 m relay. Despite being awarded 4th place in the 200 m final, a photo finish of the race that was not consulted at the time, when examined in 1975, showed that she had beaten American Audrey Patterson into third place, a discrepancy that has been recognised by many reputable Olympic historians. After winning three gold medals in the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

, she won her first Olympic title at the 1952 Games in Helsinki. She won the 80 m hurdles in

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 (10.9 s). A baton mix-up cost her a second gold medal in the 4×100 m relay. In the 100 m, she again won a bronze medal. She set a new world record of 11.3 s for the 100 m in Poland in 1955, and in the

1956 Olympics 1956 Olympics refers to both: *The 1956 Winter Olympics, which were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy *The 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport eve ...

, she won again in the 80 m hurdles and with the Australian 4×100 m relay team.

Post-athletics

De la Hunty maintained her Olympic involvement in athlete administration, with the Australian teams during the

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

and 1976 Olympics in Mexico City and Montreal. She also coached sprinter Raelene Boyle for the 1976 Olympic season. Along with her husband, de la Hunty had a longstanding involvement with the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Austral ...

. She was a founding member, and later served as president of the party's branch in Western Australia.SHIRLEY DE LA HUNTY, 1925‐2004
– State Library of Western Australia. Retrieved 11 March 2015. From the early 1970s through to the mid-1990s, de la Hunty was a

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

for state and federal political office, although never elected. She stood in six state elections – in 1971, and then in five consecutive from

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

to 1996. In 1983,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

, and 1996, she stood for the

, while in the remaining years she stood as an independent candidate. She ran for the Legislative Assembly in 1983 and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

(in East Melville and Melville, respectively), and for the Legislative Council in 1971, 1986, 1989, and 1996.Black, David (1989). ''An Index to Parliamentary Candidates in Western Australian Elections, 1890–1989''. Parliament of Western Australia, Parliament House, Perth, Western Australia At federal level, all but one of de la Hunty's runs for office were made as a Democrats candidate. In total, she contested seven federal elections—four consecutive from

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, as well as the

1981 by-election Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

in Curtin, and then in

and 1996. She ran for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in 1981 (Curtin), 1984 ( Fremantle), and 1993 ( Canning), with the latter being her only independent candidacy at federal level. At all other elections she contested the Senate, where she was generally placed second or third on the Democrats'

group voting ticket A group voting ticket (GVT) is a shortcut for voters in a preferential voting system, where a voter can indicate support for a list of candidates instead of marking preferences for individual candidates. For multi-member electoral divisions with s ...

. Although never elected to parliament, de la Hunty served two periods as a

City of Melville The City of Melville is a local government area in the southern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, east of the port city of Fremantle and about south of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of ...

councillor, from 1988 to 1996 and from 1999 to 2003. This politcal affiliation contrasted with the background of her first coach, Betty Judge, who was the wife of

Kim Beazley Sr. Kim Edward Beazley (30 September 1917 – 12 October 2007) was an Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1945 to 1977, representing the Labor Party. He was Minister for Education in the Whitlam Go ...

and mother of

Kim Beazley Kim Christian Beazley (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 1996 to 2001 and 2005 to 2006, having previously been a cabine ...

, both prominent

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

politicians. De la Hunty was one of several female Australian Olympians who carried the Olympic Flame at the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Games. In 2001, she attracted media attention by auctioning her sporting memorabilia including her Olympic gold medals. She was criticised by some for that but asserted she had a right to do so and the income generated would help pay for her grandchildren's education and allow a sizeable donation to assist in securing old-growth forests from use by developers. Her memorabilia were eventually acquired for the National Sports Museum in Melbourne by a group of anonymous businessmen who shared her wish that the memorabilia would stay in Australia.

Personal life

In 1950, she married geologist Lawrence Edmund de la Hunty, who had been one of her students at Perth Technical College. They had four children: Phillip (1953), Barbara (1957), Matthew (1960) and David (1963). Matthew was the lead singer in Australian rock band Tall Tales and True. Barbara graduated in Science. Phillip's intended medical career was destroyed by heroin addiction though he later graduated with honours in Science. David is an ophthalmologist practising in Rockingham.Specialist eye surgeons
at Perth Eye Hospital, 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018 Lawrence died of a heart attack in 1980, aged 56. De la Hunty was appointed Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...

(AO) on 26 January 2001 for service to the community, particularly in the areas of conservation, the environment and local government, and to athletics as an athlete, coach and administrator. She had been appointed Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(Civil) (MBE) for services to athletics on 1 January 1957. Her body was found on 16 February 2004 on her kitchen floor, but the coroner determined that she died on the evening of 11 February. There was no full autopsy and the coroner said the cause of death was "unascertainable", though not inconsistent with natural causes. The Western Australian government honoured her with a state funeral, the first ever for a private citizen. In 2005, some members of her family approached the coroner regarding the circumstances of her death. In 2006 an investigation was conducted by detectives from the major crime squad. In 2008 probate was granted after a dispute over her will was resolved in the state Supreme Court. Shirley Strickland Reserve in Ardross, a suburb of Perth, is named in her honour. In 2011, Shirley was posthumously inducted into th
WA Women's Hall of Fame
and in 2014, Strickland de la Hunty was inducted into the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

' Hall of Fame

References

External links

* National Film and Sound Archive
Oral biography with video clips
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strickland, Shirley 1925 births 2004 deaths Australian female hurdlers Australian female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Australian people of American descent Australian people of British descent Australian people of Norwegian descent Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia World record setters in athletics (track and field) Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Officers of the Order of Australia Olympic athletes of Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia People from Northam, Western Australia Track and field athletes from Western Australia University of Western Australia alumni Western Australian Sports Star of the Year winners Recipients of the Olympic Order Australian Democrats politicians Western Australian local councillors Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) 20th-century Australian politicians Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics 20th-century Australian women politicians Women local councillors in Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Sportswomen from Western Australia