Ruth Dickey (née Dowman, 3 January 1930 – 14 September 2018) was a New Zealand

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

er and sprinter who won a bronze medal in the long jump at 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 ...

Biography

Born on 3 January 1930 to Athol Frederick Dowman and Iris Muriel Dowman (née Kettle), Ruth Dowman showed early promise as a sprinter, beating Joan Hart in a 100 yards handicap race in December 1944. Later that season, in February 1945, Dowman won the 100 yards title at the

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

provincial track championships, and finished third in the 75 yards. The following month, she competed at the New Zealand national athletics championships in Napier, finishing second in both the 75 yards and 100 yards sprints. Dowman went on to win five national athletics titles: the 75 yards in 1946, 1947, and 1948; and the 100 yards in 1946 and 1947. At the

, Dowman recorded a best distance of , a personal best, in winning the bronze medal in the women's long jump, behind

Yvette Williams Dame Yvette Winifred Corlett (née Williams; 25 April 1929 – 13 April 2019) was a New Zealand track-and-field athlete who was the first woman from her country to win an Olympic gold medal and to hold the world record in the women's long jum ...

and Judy Canty. She also competed in the women's 100 yards, being eliminated in the semi-finals. In the 660 yards relay, Dowman was in the New Zealand team alongside Lesley Rowe, Dorothea Parker and Shirley Hardman, but the quartet was disqualified after the baton was dropped and incorrectly retrieved at the final exchange. In 1951, Dowman married Clifford Samuel Dickey. She died on 14 September 2018.

References

1930 births 2018 deaths Athletes from Auckland New Zealand female sprinters New Zealand female long jumpers Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games New Zealand Athletics Championships winners 20th-century New Zealand sportswomen Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics {{NewZealand-athletics-bio-stub