Ralph Douglas Doubell AM (born 11 February 1945) is an Australian former athlete, and gold medallist at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

Athletic career

Doubell was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, was educated at

Melbourne High School Melbourne High School is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1905, the school caters for boys from Year 9 ...

and graduated from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

, where he had come under the tutelage of Austrian-born coach Franz Stampfl. Doubell's first major international victory in 800 metres was at the World Student Games in Tokyo in 1967 in a time of 1:46.7. His next season (the Olympic season) was severely curtailed by

Achilles' tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

injuries, and he was unable to compete for six months prior to the Olympic Games in Mexico City. Doubell, however, was able to recover in time for Mexico City and won the 800 m gold medal, passing the pre-race favourite Wilson Kiprugut of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

down the straight to win in a

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 ...

equalling time of 1:44.3. Doubell also won the 800 metres gold medal at the 1969

Pacific Conference Games The Pacific Conference Games were a quadrennial athletics competition, held between 1969 and 1985 and contested by Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States. Each of the five nations hosted an edition of the competition before its ...

, in a time of 1:48.0. Doubell had planned to compete at the 1972 Olympics in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, but was prevented from doing so by calf injuries, which brought on his retirement from competitive athletics.

Post-athletic career

After retirement from sports, Doubell enrolled at Harvard Business School. He then worked as a Head of Relationship Management and a Director and Divisional Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking of the

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

Group in Australia. He was a Director of

Telstra Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, in Sydney, Australia. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stad ...

in Sydney until 2007. Doubell was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

in 1985. On 12 June 2006, in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, he was made a Member (AM) 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 ...

, for "services to athletics through administrative roles, particularly with Athletics New South Wales, and as a competitor".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doubell, Ralph 1945 births Living people Australian businesspeople Australian male middle-distance runners World record setters in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Olympic gold medalists for Australia Athletes from Melbourne People educated at Melbourne High School Members of the Order of Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade gold medalists for Australia University of Melbourne alumni Harvard Business School alumni Olympic athletes of Australia Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia