Gael Patricia Mulhall-Martin (born 27 August 1956) is a former Australian athlete who competed in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

and in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

at the Olympic level and also had a career in powerlifting.

Athletics

Born 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 ...

, Mulhall-Martin is daughter of footballer Ken Mulhall, an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er with the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fro ...

. She won the bronze medal in women's shot put at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

held in Los Angeles, United States, becoming the first Australian (male or female) to win an Olympic medal in a throwing event. Mulhall also competed in four successive

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

events from 1974, winning double gold in Shot Put and Discus at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. This was the second Commonwealth Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largely African, Asian and Caribbe ...

in Edinburgh. Coached by Franz Stampfl, she won a total of 20 senior Australian national championships in her career.Athletics Australia Profile
/ref> At the 1981 Pan Pacific Conference Games she tested positive for the use of

anabolic steroid Anabolic steroids, also known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are a class of drugs that are structurally related to testosterone, the main male sex hormone, and produce effects by binding to the androgen receptor (AR). Anabolism, Anaboli ...

s and received an 18-month ban for cheating.

Powerlifting

Gael Martin represented Australia in the Women's World Powerlifting Championships in 1981, 1983 and 1988. In 1987, Martin received a grant from the ACT Talented Athletes Development Awards program. The higher level grant, which Martin received, was awarded to applicants with international ranking and the support of their sporting organisation.

Footnotes

References

Farber, M., "Drugs hurt career of Aussie woman"
''The (Montreal) Gazette'', (Monday, 4 October 1982), p.F-5
Goodwin, D., "Gael's firm — 'I'm not a drug taker' "
''(Sydney) Sun Herald'', (Sunday, 16 August 1981), p. 17
Mitchell, N. and McMahon, P., "Mulhall may take life ban to court"
''The Age'', (Wednesday, 15 July 1981), p. 36
Nolan, D., "Gael is hoping to throw for gold"
The Australian Women's Weekly, (Wednesday, 21 March 1979), p. 29
Webster, J., "Mulhall to start her comeback on Saturday"
''The Sydney Morning Herald'', Wednesday, 28 July 1982, p. 40
1973 photograph of Mulhall with Ray Rigby at an athletic meeting.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Gael 1956 births Living people Athletes from Melbourne Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Australian female discus throwers Australian female shot putters Australian powerlifters Female powerlifters Olympic athletes for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Australian Institute of Sport track and field athletes Doping cases in Australian track and field Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Australian Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Australian sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics