Cuthbert ran the good race
FOREVER the “Golden Girl”, Betty Cuthbert has also been remembered as a humble and graceful person of faith.
The athletics great was farewelled at a private funeral in Western Australia yesterday, with Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates saying she left an indelible mark on Australia’s Olympic history.
“Betty Cuthbert, the heroine of the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, forever our Golden Girl,” he told the hundreds of people at her funeral in Mandurah.
The four-time Olympic gold medallist died aged 79 on August 6 after a 50-year battle with multiple sclerosis.
Her feat of winning Olympic gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m remains unmatched. As an 18-yearold, Cuthbert won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in Melbourne and eight years later took out the 400m in Tokyo.
Swim champion Dawn Fraser, who cried during her speech, met Cuthbert in 1954 and their friendship was cemented in 1956 when they made the Olympic team.
She described Cuthbert as Australia’s greatest trackand-field athlete.
Cuthbert’s nephew Peter Johnston described his aunt as humble. “She said her running was a gift not to be wasted,” he told the service. Mr Johnston said she conducted her post-athletic life with grace and dignity as she battled multiple sclerosis and kept her strong faith in God.