Chamberlain’s
This story was originally published on Locker Room at Newsroom.co. nz, and is republished with permission.
Her training was brutal, painful and exhausting; run by a gruff, but caring, Latvian coach who’d escaped the Russian army. And Olympic bronze medallist Marise Chamberlain isn’t certain she’d do it all again.
‘‘I remember every excruciating, miserable, cold, wet, frosty training session,’’ the now 84-year-old Chamberlain says. ‘‘We did it because we had the passion, but I don’t know if I could do it all again.’’
Today, the woman who remains New Zealand’s only female Olympic track medallist enjoys her daily walk on Brighton Beach in Christchurch, even through lockdown.
She never ran again after she tweaked her achilles as she led the field in the 800m final of the
1966 Commonwealth Games – tragically stumbling across the finish-line and missing a medal.
Chamberlain says she’s been as good as gold alone in her bubble in the last six weeks, in regular contact with her two daughters who live on the outskirts of Christchurch, and with her church community.
‘‘I still feel, as old as I am, that I still have energy for life,’’ she says.
Chamberlain won her bronze medal in the 800m at the 1964 Olympics – the last time the Summer Games were held in Japan. She’s supportive of the decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympics until
2021, saying that the athletes need to be able to compete without the fear of contamination from Covid-19.
She’s as sharp as a tack when she talks over the phone about her life – the very different training regime and conditions she endured during her career, and her vivid memories of competing at an Olympics in Tokyo.
Raised in Christchurch, Chamberlain grew up in what she
describes as a ‘truly positive’ environment.
Her parents Gladys and Len Chamberlain fostered a dream of being the best – and for Chamberlain, it was running.
And the best she was – setting five world records across the 440 yards to the mile throughout her career, winning silver in the 800m at the 1962 Perth Commonwealth Games and her bronze at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Chamberlain vividly recalls at the age of 11 lining up for a handicapped sprint race at the school fair.
Her father, Len, was in charge of handicaps and deliberately put his daughter well at the back of the pack. Despite a determined effort, Chamberlain finished second.
‘‘I was so upset that I got beaten,’’ she remembers. ‘‘I said to my father ‘You did that so I wouldn’t win’.’’
To which Len Chamberlain told her you can’t always win at life and it’s a lesson you must learn. ‘‘He said to me ‘If you can’t take being beaten in a nice manner, then it’s better you never put your feet on the track again’,’’ Marise says.
Armed with the lessons from her parents, she decided if she was to come second it would only be to someone better than herself.
Chamberlain was coached by Valdy Briedis, a Latvian-born immigrant who competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games in decathlon.
With Briedis’ experience as an athlete and coach (he’d been the head coach for the Dutch athletics team at the 1948 Olympic Games before coming to Christchurch), Chamberlain thrived on the uncompromising and brutal training sessions.
She remembers the often gruff and volatile nature of her coach, but knew her parents trusted Briedis, who saw her potential and wanted to help her unleash it.
‘‘Dad said ‘You believe in him and you’ll get there’. I never then doubted what Valdy said after that,’’ she says.
To this day, Chamberlain is still grateful for the incredible