Tania Kay Murray Haigh (formerly Dixon, née Murray; born 3 October 1970) is a former New Zealand

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er and

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

er. She won the gold medal in the women's high jump representing her country at the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games () were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Participants competed in ten sports: at ...

, and won eight national athletic championship titles.

Early life

Murray was born in Ranfurly on 3 October 1970. As a child she suffered from several illnesses, including

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammation#Disorders, inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a Streptococcal pharyngitis, streptococcal throat infection. Si ...

glandular fever A gland is a cell or an organ in an animal's body that produces and secretes different substances that the organism needs, either into the bloodstream or into a body cavity or outer surface. A gland may also function to remove unwanted substances ...

and growths of her knees. Encouraged by her doctor to become more active, she joined the

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

Athletics Club. Murray was educated at Maniototo Area School, and then

Logan Park High School Logan Park High School is a high school founded in 1974 in Dunedin, New Zealand. It has a roll of students as of with a teaching staff of about 50, with some 18 further auxiliary and administrative staff. History The school was built on th ...

after moving with her family to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

Athletics

National championships

As a junior, Murray competed in

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events, as well as in the

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 ...

, high jump and triple jump. Representing Otago at the national athletic championships, she won the under-18 high jump in 1988, the under-20 100 metres hurdles and high jump in 1989, and the under-20 100 metres, 200 metres and high jump in 1990. Murray was New Zealand women's high jump champion in 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1997, and was New Zealand

champion in 1994, 1997, and 1999.

Commonwealth Games

Murray represented New Zealand in the high jump at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in

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 ...

. Murray and Janet Boyle from Northern Ireland were two of the six athletes to jump 1.88 metres, but then all failed to clear 1.91 metres. As Murray and Boyle were the only two to clear 1.88 metres at their first attempts, they went into a jump-off to decide the gold and silver medals. After a dramatic jump-off, Murray eventually emerged victorious, and took the gold medal. In 1990, Murray was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to 3,632 people. Background The New Zealand 1990 Com ...

. Despite achieving the 'A' qualifying standard in the high jump for the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

with a personal best height of 1.92 metres, Murray was controversially not nominated for the New Zealand Olympic team by

Athletics New Zealand Athletics New Zealand (ANZ) is the national governing body for athletics (sport), athletics in New Zealand. This includes responsibility for Track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking. History The organisation was fou ...

. Murray again competed in the high jump at the 1994 Commonwealth Games at

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, finishing fourth on a countback with the bronze medallist

Debbie Marti Deborah Jane Marti (born 14 May 1968) is a former high jumper from England, who was born in Switzerland. She represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996, finishing ninth in the 1992 final. She set her out ...

from England, after both athletes had a best height of 1.91 metres. Following the 1994 Games, Murray moved to Melbourne for a time and concentrated on the triple jump. She qualified for the inaugural Commonwealth Games women's triple jump event in 1998, but was injured while attempting to qualify for the high jump. She subsequently retired from athletics competition.

National records / personal bests

In 1991, Murray set the New Zealand record for the women's high jump of , and in 1997 set the national record of . , her New Zealand high jump record still stands.

Later life

Murray married Greg Dixon, and they had two children. They moved to the United States in the late 1990s, but Murray returned to New Zealand after their marriage ended, finding employment as the sports coordinator at

Cromwell College There are eleven residential colleges of the University of Queensland. Colleges Cromwell College * On the St Lucia campus. Was the first of the Colleges on the St Lucia campus in June 1954, and admitted men only until it became co-ed in 1973. ...

for five years. In about 2015, she started her own dressmaking business, having completed a course at

Otago Polytechnic Otago Polytechnic is a public Education in New Zealand#Tertiary education, New Zealand tertiary education institute, centred in Dunedin with additional campuses in Cromwell, New Zealand, Cromwell and Auckland. Otago Polytechnic provides career-f ...

after leaving school. She remarried, to Russ Haigh, and the couple have a house renovation business in

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Tania 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Ranfurly, New Zealand New Zealand female high jumpers Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games New Zealand female triple jumpers People educated at Logan Park High School People educated at Maniototo Area School New Zealand women in business Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Australian Athletics Championships winners New Zealand Athletics Championships winners Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics