How golden girl turned tragedy into a triumph
DAWN Fraser has opened up about the darkest time in her life in the hope that it will provide some light to Australia’s disappointed Olympians following the postponement of Tokyo. In retelling the tragic death of her mother in the lead up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Fraser’s heartfelt message to today’s Olympians is don’t let the COVID-19 pandemic ruin your dreams.
“The most important thing is to stay focused,” she said. “Even though we’re 12 months out from the Games, they’ve got to be prepared to forget that they have been cancelled this year.
“The positive thing is to get it in their minds that they have another year up their sleeves to get themselves better.” Australia’s original golden girl, Fraser won the 100m freestyle at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics when she was a teenager then retained her title at Rome in 1960.
Ahead of Tokyo, she was the overwhelming favourite to make her third individual gold in a row – a feat that no swimmer had achieved before and only two (Michael Phelps and Krisztina Egerszegi) have done since – after breaking her own world record at the Australian Olympic trials in February 1964.
A month later, Fraser took her mother Rose out for a surprise, unaware of how that night would change her life forever.
“We were at the leagues club, where they presented my mum with an air ticket to Tokyo to watch me swim,” Fraser said.
“Then I was driving the car to take my sister home to Brighton-Le-Sands and unfortunately we had a car accident and my mum was killed.”
Fraser, pulled unconscious from the wreck, fractured her neck in the crash. She spent six weeks with her neck in plaster, on dry land with no possibility of swimming.
Depressed and heartbroken, Fraser had just about given up on the idea of competing at the Tokyo Olympics when she was told that US teen Sharon Stouder was closing in on her record.
That was enough motivation to get Fraser back into training and refocused on her goal.
She was 27 when she got to Japan, 12 years older than Stouder, but the Californian never stood a chance as Fraser accelerated away from her over the last half lap.
“Tokyo was very special for me because it was for my mum and not for me,” Fraser said.