Marlene Judith Mathews AO (later ''Willard''; born 14 July 1934) is a retired Australian

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

sprinter. She has been described as 'one of Australia's greatest and unluckiest' champions.Australian Biographical Database profile – Marlene Mathews
Womenaustralia.info. Retrieved on 1 March 2016.

Early career

Mathews attended

Fort Street High School Fort Street High School (FSHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, New South Wales government run, Mixed-sex school, co-educational, Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective, secondary school, secondary day school, ...

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 began competing in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

in the late 1940s. At the 1950

Australian Championships The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events every year, held be ...

, she placed fourth, behind

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. ...

, in the 80 m hurdles and ran in the winning state relay team,Marlene WILLARD (Mathews) (NSW)
Athletics Australia profile but was not selected for the

1950 British Empire 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 ...

team. A few days after her 16th birthday at the NSW Championships, she ran a great race at the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Championships 100 yards final, placing second to world record-holder

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 ...

and beating four members of the Australian Empire Games team, including Olympic medalist Strickland. Mathews was considered a certainty to gain selection to 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 ...

before a leg injury forced her out of competition.

International career

In 1954, recovered from her injuries, she ran second to Jackson in the National 100 yards championship (and third in the 220 yards) and was duly selected to run in her first international championships at the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from 30 July to 7 August 1954. This was the fifth edition of the event that would eventually become known as the Commonwealth Games, the second post-war G ...

in Vancouver. She was unlucky again, breaking down injured in her heat of the 100 yards. At the

1956 Olympics 1956 Olympics refers to both: *The 1956 Winter Olympics, which were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy *The 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were ...

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 ...

, she won two bronze medals, over

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

. In both races she was beaten by countrywoman

Betty Cuthbert Elizabeth Alyse Cuthbert (20 April 1938 – 6 August 2017), was an Australian athlete and a four-time Olympic champion. She was nicknamed Australia's "Golden Girl". During her career, she set world records for 60 metres, 100 yards, 200 metres ...

(gold) and German

Christa Stubnick Christa Stubnick (; née Seliger on 12 December 1933 – 13 May 2021) was an East German sprinter who competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1956 Summer Olympics. She won silver medals in the 100 m and 200 m events, splitting the Au ...

(silver). In a controversial move, she was left out of the gold-medal winning Australian 4×100 metres relay team as she was 'not considered a good relay runner" but soon after the Games she assisted an Australian team to world records for 4×200 metres and 4×220 yards relay events. She proved her versatility in the sprint events by setting a new world record at

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

with 57.0 seconds on 6 January 1957. On 20 March 1958, at the Australian Championships, she set a new world record over 100 yards with 10.3 seconds, and two days later she ran 220 yards in 23.4 seconds and set another world record. In both races, she defeated world-record holder and Olympic champion Cuthbert. At the

1958 Commonwealth Games The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: ''Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad'' 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18 to 26 July 1958. It was the sixth edition of what would come to be known as the Commonwealth Games, the ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, Mathews took out the 100 yards and 220 yards, again beating Cuthbert. She was ranked #1 in the world for both 100 metresTrack & Field News World Rankings-100m
. Trackandfieldnews.com. Retrieved on 1 March 2016. and 200 metresTrack & Field News World Rankings-200m
. Trackandfieldnews.com. Retrieved on 1 March 2016. in both 1957 and 1958. Mathews' final competition was at the

1960 Olympics The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 19 ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where she was eliminated in the 100 metres semi-finals.

Personal details and honours

Mathews married fireman Barry Willard in 1958 but they later separated. She was an assistant manager of the Australian Olympic Team at the

1972 Olympics 1972 Olympics refers to both: *1972 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sapporo, Japan *1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. She became a Member of 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 ...

(AM) in 1979 for her services to athletics, and an

Officer of 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 ...

(AO) in 1999. Mathews was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985 and into the Athletics Australia Hall of Fame in 2010. In 1993, the

State Transit Authority The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for ...

named a RiverCat ferry after Matthews. In 2018 a bronze sculpture of her (and one of

) was unveiled at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

in Sydney, Australia. This makes them the first female athletes added to the bronze sculptures in the

precinct.

Statistics

Personal bests World Records World Rankings – 100m and 200m – rankings commenced in 1956. Australian Championships Record – prior to 1963 Championships were held every two years

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Marlene 1934 births Living people Australian female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Sportswomen from New South Wales Officers of the Order of Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games athletes for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Athletes from Sydney Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Australian Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Australian sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics