Shirley Lavina Louise Weinberg (née Ogle; 9 May 1926 – 20 April 2021) was an Australian former athlete who competed in the 100 yards and 220 yards and other sprint distances. She held numerous state and national women's sprint records, and at the 1947 Victorian Athletics Championships won all four sprint events, 75 yards through to

440 yards The 440-yard dash, or quarter-mile race, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. In many countries, athletes compete in the 440 yard dash (402.336 m) – which corresponds to a quarter mile. Many athletic tracks are 440 yards ...

.https://web.archive.org/web/20090808122638/http://geocities.com/geetee/history/ch_vic.html Victorian Athletics Champions

Early life

Ogle was born in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

suburb of

Fawkner Fawkner is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Hume, Hume and City of Merri-bek, Merri-bek ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. Her parents were William "Billy" Ogle, a professional bike rider and process engraver, and "Peggy" Martin, a stage performer. She attended scholastically elite

University High School University High School may refer to: Australia * University High School, Melbourne, Victoria Canada * University Hill Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia United States Arizona * University High School (Tolleson) * University High Sc ...

where her athletic prowess stood out, her small stature and slight build notwithstanding. She joined Southport Athletic Club and competed in a wide range of events, including the discus, in which she won one of many club junior championships.

Athletic career

Ogle's athletic career happened to coincide with the period when Australian women sprinters were at their most dominant. Not having much big race experience at all, Ogle didn't perform up to her best at the Women's 1948 Olympic Selection Athletics Trials in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and didn't make the team for

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She was 5th in the 100 yards, with the first four,

Joyce King Joyce A. King (1 September 1920 – 10 June 2001) was an Australian sprinter. She was born in Sydney. In 1948, she won the Australian national championships over 100 yards and 220 yards. At the 1948 Summer Olympics in London the same yea ...

Shirley Strickland 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. ...

Betty McKinnon Elizabeth L. McKinnon (13 January 1925 – 24 June 1981) was an Australian sprinter who won a silver medal in 4 x 100 metres relay with teammates Shirley Strickland, June Maston and Joyce King at the 1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 ...

and June Matson making up the Women's 4 x 100 metre relay which won the silver medal. She was 5th in the 220 yards too, behind Joyce King, future multiple

Olympic Champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Sports that will appear in the 2028 Summer Olympics ar ...

and world recordholder, Shirley Strickland, Betty McKinnon and, another future multiple Olympic Champion and world recordholder,

Marjorie Jackson Marjorie Jackson-Nelson (born 13 September 1931) is an Australian former athlete and politician. She was the Governor of South Australia between 2001 and 2007. She finished her sporting career with two Olympic and seven Commonwealth Games Gold ...

. Competition for a spot on the sprint team was obviously pretty tough, with Joyce King and Shirley Strickland being the 1st. and 2nd. ranked of all the athletes from all the sports that had been presented by their sports associations to the

Australian Olympic Federation The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is the National Olympic Committee responsible for developing, promoting, and protecting the Olympic Movement in Australia. The AOC has the exclusive responsibility for the representation of Australia at ...

for grading and selection in the Australian

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

team. The strength of Australia's women in athletics at the time was further demonstrated by their results in the

1950 Commonwealth Games The 1950 British Empire Games were 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. A documentary fil ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

where they won every event, except the High Jump and Long Jump.

Additional information

In 1950, she married

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n Olympian

Hurdler 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 ...

Ray Weinberg Raymond Henry Weinberg AM (23 October 1926 - 30 May 2018) was an Australian athlete and coach. He was one of Australia's finest hurdlers, being ranked in the Top 8 in the world for 4 years; an Olympic finalist; in 1952 having the fastest time ...

and supported his efforts in making the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

team and was integral in the success of his other ventures in athletics. She'd also assisted him with his 1948 London Olympics programme where, even though visiting Olympic teams had to provide their own food due to post-war privations, she supplemented that with food packages, including eggs in the form of a special homemade Advocaat. Shirley and Ray have three children.

Statistics

;RecordsAthletics Australia - all time performances
:: :State championships ::

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogle, Shirley 1926 births 2021 deaths Australian female sprinters Sportswomen from Victoria (state) People educated at University High School, Melbourne People from the City of Merri-bek Athletes from Melbourne 20th-century Australian sportswomen