Dorothy Edna Roche (1928 – 11 November 2021) was an international

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

competitor for Australia.

Bowls career

Roche took up the sport of bowls in 1975. She won the triples gold medal and fours silver medal at the 1985 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Melbourne, Australia. Three years later, she won double gold after winning both the triples and fours at the

1988 World Outdoor Bowls Championship The 1988 Men's World Outdoor Bowls Championship was held in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand, from 30 January to 14 February 1988. David Bryant won a third singles Gold defeating Willie Wood in the final. New Zealand won the Pairs and Triples, ...

in Auckland. Roche became Australia's oldest Commonwealth Games gold medal winner when she won the women's fours at the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games () were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Participants competed in ten sports: at ...

in Auckland, at 61 years old. She won three medals at the

Asia Pacific Bowls Championships The Asia Pacific Bowls Championships formerly the Pacific Rim Championships was a lawn bowling competition held between national bowls organisations in the Asia Pacific region. The event was inaugurated in 1985, and it was initially held every t ...

including a gold medal in the 1993 triples in Victoria, Canada. Roche was awarded the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for services to bowls in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roche, Dorothy 1928 births 2021 deaths Australian female bowls players Bowls World Champions Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Bowls players at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Place of birth missing 20th-century Australian sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in lawn bowls Commonwealth Games bowls players for Australia