Clara Decima Hamilton (), MBE (9 September 1909 – 29 August 1983) was an Australian

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

. She was the only Australian woman who won five gold medals at the

1938 British Empire Games The 1938 British Empire Games were the third British Empire Games, the event that evolved to become the Commonwealth Games. Held in Sydney, Australia from 5–12 February 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 yea ...

Biography

Norman was born on 9 September 1909 in

Tammin, Western Australia Tammin is a town in the central agricultural region of Western Australia, east of Perth and midway between the towns of Cunderdin and Kellerberrin on the Great Eastern Highway. The surrounding areas produce wheat and other cereal crops. The ...

. Her parents died when she was young, and she was adopted by her brother and his wife, who lived in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. She participated in several sports at school, and was named champion athlete at Perth College in 1923. A lack of organised competition and training for female athletes in the 1920s saw Norman take up

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

, although she continued to train herself in track and field athletics until 1932, when she was spotted by former professional athlete Frank Preston, who saw her potential and offered to train her. Norman's improving times, and several victories in the WA state titles, prompted Preston to consider her to represent Australia in the

1934 Empire Games The 1934 British Empire Games were the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events wer ...

to be held in London. However, to compete at the games, she needed to be a member of the Women's Amateur Athletic Association of Australia, and in turn a West Australian women's athletics club, none of which existed. Norman eventually managed to establish such a club and join the WAAAA, but too late for her to qualify for the 1934 Empire Games or even the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

in Berlin. The efforts of Norman and Preston paid off, as several women's athletics clubs formed in WA, resulting in the state sending a women's team for the first time to the 1937 National Athletics Championships in

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 ...

. Norman's performance in Melbourne qualified her to compete in the

, to be held in Sydney. Norman was the first Australian to win a gold medal in Sydney, with an 11.1 second time in the 100-yard sprint. She followed this up with a win in the final leg of the 440-yard medley relay, an Empire record-breaking long jump, the 220-yard sprint, and the 660-yard relay. She established herself as the premier athlete of the event, Australia's first athletics 'golden girl'. Her record five gold medals in a single games was not equalled until 1990, when swimmer

Hayley Lewis Hayley Jane Lewis, OAM (born 2 March 1974), is an Australian former competitive swimmer best known for winning five gold medals and one bronze medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games as a 15-year-old. Lewis is a former host of ''The Biggest Lo ...

took five golds in

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 ...

, and not beaten until

Susie O'Neill Susan O'Neill, (born 2 August 1973) is an Australian former competitive swimmer from Brisbane, Queensland, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly". She achieved eight Olympic Games medals during her swimming career. Early life O'Neill was born on 2 Augu ...

won six golds in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

in 1998. Norman remained in Sydney, to begin training for the next Olympics, however her further athletic ambitions were blunted, when the 1940 Olympics were cancelled due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She last competed (for New South Wales) at the 1940 National Championships in Perth. After retiring, she married New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player Eric Hamilton. She was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

1983 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1983 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

,Australia list: and was the custodian of the Commonwealth Games Baton in the same year, flying the Queen's Baton from London to the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. She died of cancer in

Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; ) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a part of King G ...

on 29 August 1983.

References

External links

*
Clara 'Decima' Norman
at Australian Athletics Historical Results * {{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Decima 1909 births 1983 deaths Australian female long jumpers Australian female sprinters Sportswomen from Western Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1938 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from cancer in Western Australia People educated at Perth College (Western Australia) People from the Wheatbelt (Western Australia) Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Medallists at the 1938 British Empire Games Australian Athletics Championships winners New Zealand Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Australian sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics