Norman "Nugget" Alfred Vale May (14 February 1928 – 11 September 2016) was an Australian radio and television sports broadcaster. His most famous moment was calling "

GOLD Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, GOLD for Australia, GOLD" during the men's 4 × 100 metres medley final in the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.

Early life and career

May was born in Melbourne on 14 February 1928. His family moved to

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 ...

when he was three and he was raised in Coogee, a southern suburb of Sydney. Despite losing an eye in an accident at the age of six, he was considered talented at cricket, rugby league and surfing. May got into some trouble as a youth, culminating in his arrest and week-long detention. He attended

Sydney Boys' High School Sydney Boys High School ('SBHS'), otherwise known as Sydney High School ('SHS') or simply High, is an Australian government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located at Moore Park, New South Wales, a sub ...

, where he made the school's cricket and rugby union teams, but left at the age of 14. May was given the nickname "Nugget" during his youth due to his stocky body type, a name he was known by throughout his life. After leaving school May worked various jobs during

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 ...

whilst continuing to play cricket, as well as being an active member of the

Coogee Surf Life Saving Club The Coogee Surf Life Saving Club is a foundation member of the surf lifesaving movement in Australia. It was founded in 1907 by a group of concerned locals and has a proud history of no lives being lost whilst its members have patrolled. Coogee S ...

. He moved to the suburb of

North Curl Curl North Curl Curl is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 19 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Norther ...

in Sydney's north with his mother in 1949, where he joined the

Freshwater Surf Life Saving Club The Freshwater Surf Life Saving Club, established in 1908, is located at Freshwater Beach in Australia. It has become a large volunteer organization with strong community bonds. The club was founded by a push from government to foster safer ...

, before finally working as a clerk at an insurance company from his mid 20s.

Broadcasting career

In 1957, May was invited by his friend and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

sports broadcaster

Dick Healey Richard Owen Healey (7 December 192310 December 2000) was a New South Wales politician, ABC sports broadcaster, and minister of the crown in the cabinets of Sir Robert Askin, Tom Lewis and Sir Eric Willis. From 1973 to 1975 he was Minister ...

to join him as a commentator of a

surf lifesaving Surf lifesaving is a multifaceted social movement that comprises key aspects of voluntary lifeguard services and competitive surf sport. Originating in early 20th century Australia, the movement has expanded globally to other countries, in ...

event. The following year he was employed by the ABC as a trainee broadcaster, where he remained as a full-time employee until 1984. During the men's 4 × 100 metres medley final at the

1980 Moscow Olympic Games The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

, May's commentary for

2UE 2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales. History 1920s 2EU Electrical Utilities applied to the P ...

culminated in the exclamation "GOLD, GOLD for Australia, GOLD". The feat was significant it was Australia's first gold medal in eight years, after not winning any at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, while the government wanted the Australian team to follow America's lead in boycotting the Games. May's call of the race was notable for not hiding his support for the Australian team, as opposed to objective commentary that was the norm of the time. In the time since the event, May has become better associated with the win than the four swimmers who competed, with the swimmers themselves describing May as the fifth member of the

relay team A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of Race track, racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in runni ...

. May commentated a total of eleven Olympic and eleven Commonwealth Games during his career. Besides the Olympics, May called a wide variety of sports including

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...

, surf life-saving, cricket and rugby. He was known to unnerve his co-commentators by turning up just before the start of a match and say “good morning chaps, who’s playing?” His career in sports broadcasting continued following his official retirement from the ABC in 1984.

Awards and recognition

May received the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian 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 then ...

(OAM) in the

1983 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppl ...

"for service to the media", and an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

in 2000. Also in 2000, he was awarded an

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Tradit ...

, and in 2003 he received an Australian Sports Commission Media Awards - Lifetime Achievement Award. May 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 Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

in 2004 and appointed 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 the

2009 Australia Day Honours The 2009 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2009 by the Governor General of Australia, Quentin Bryce. The Australia ...

, "for service to the community through promotional and support roles with the Australian Olympic and Commonwealth Games Team Appeals and through cultural and seniors' organisations." His 'Gold Gold Gold: 4 × 100 Metres Men’s Medley Relay' race call was added to the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

Sounds of Australia The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the National Film & Sound Archive's selection of sound recordings deemed culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant and relevant for Australia. It was fo ...

registry in 2010.

Legacy

May's contribution to Australian sports broadcasting has been held in high regard both during and after his career, with ABC broadcasters such as Jim Maxwell,

Drew Morphett Andrew Kenneth "Drew" Morphett (22 August 1948 – 25 August 2017) was an Australian sports broadcaster. Life Morphett started his career as a sport specialist trainee in Sydney in 1966 at 18 years of age. Over a long career, he worked on b ...

and

Gerard Whateley Gerard Whateley (born 28 October 1974) is a Melbourne-based sports broadcaster and writer. He is regarded by many as Australia's pre-eminent sports broadcaster. Since January 2018, he has been chief sports caller and host of the ''Whateley'' ...

considering May a mentor. He was particularly noted by Maxwell for his ability to speak without the benefit of an autocue.

Death

May died in Sydney on 11 September 2016 after a short illness, aged 88.

References

External links

*
Radio interview discussing his career in radio
''Verbatim'' (Monday 23 January 2012) ABC Radio National {{DEFAULTSORT:May, Norman 1928 births 2016 deaths Australian sports broadcasters Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Recipients of the Olympic Order Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees