Rona Iris McCarthy (née Tong, 22 August 1916 – 31 January 2016) was a New Zealand

track and field athlete Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping even ...

who won a bronze medal at the

1938 British Empire Games The 1938 British Empire Games was 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 ...

Early life and family

Born in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west a ...

on 22 August 1916, McCarthy was the daughter of funeral director Charles Oswald Tong and Florence Susannah Tong (née Jarden). She was educated at Hastings High School and then worked in the dressmaking trade. On 7 November 1939 she married Leslie James McCarthy at St Matthew's Church, Hastings, and the couple went on to have one daughter.

Athletics

She won the New Zealand national 80 yards hurdles title in 1937, and went on to represent her country in the same event at the

British Empire Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in Sydney the following year. She finished third in the final, 0.1 seconds behind the winner, Barbara Burke from South Africa. Competing in the 100 yards sprint at the same games, McCarthy finished last in her heat and did not progress.

Other sports

McCarthy represented Hawke's Bay in both

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and was selected to play for New Zealand. However, planned internationals against Australia never took place. She coached both netball and basketball for almost 40 years, and was made a life member of the Hastings Netball Umpires' Association in 1967. She later took up

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gr ...

, and served as president of the Kia Toa Bowling Club in Hastings.

Honours

In the 1979 Queen's Birthday Honours, McCarthy was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, for services to sport, especially netball. She was inducted into the Hawke's Bay sporting legends hall of fame in 2007.

Later life and death

McCarthy was widowed by the death of her husband in 1993. She died in

Havelock North Havelock North ( mi, Te Hemo-a-Te Atonga) is a town in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, situated less than 2 km south-east of the city of Hastings. It was a borough for many years until the 1989 reorganisation of local ...

on 31 January 2016, and was buried at Hastings Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tong, Rona 1916 births 2016 deaths Sportspeople from Hastings, New Zealand New Zealand female hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 1938 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics New Zealand female sprinters New Zealand netball players New Zealand women's basketball players Burials at Hastings Cemetery, New Zealand People educated at Hastings Girls' High School New Zealand netball coaches