Terri Anne Cater (; born 25 September 1956) is an Australian former sprinter and middle-distance runner. She was Australian women's 400 metres champion in 1981 and 800 metres champion in 1981 and 1982.

Commonwealth Games

Cater competed at two Commonwealth Games: the

1974 British Commonwealth Games The 1974 British Commonwealth Games () were held in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The event was officially named "the friendly games". T ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand where she won a silver medal as part of the women's 4 × 400 metres relay team. Eight years later, she competed in the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia where she placed 4th in the final of the women's 800 metres.

1976 Olympic selection

In March 1976, Cater (as Terri Wangman) was selected for the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, however there was subsequent controversy as she was selected over Barbara Wilson of Queensland, who ranked 4th in Australian athletic rankings compared to Wangman's 19th. Queensland MP Des Frawley raised the issue in the Queensland Parliament, asserting that the selection panel was "dominated by Victorians" whose "rotten, unprincipled actions" would deprive Australia of a certain medal win in Montreal. Selector Paul Jenes responded that the selected athlete would have to cover both relay events (4 × 100 and 4 × 400), and that Wangman as the 400 metre specialist would have a better chance than Wilson. In April, the men's and women's head selectors met with the Australian Olympic Federation justification committee, where they acknowledged they should have ranked the relay teams rather than individual runners, and Wilson was added to the Olympic team. This lowered Wangman's chances of competing by half, and she did not end up competing in Montreal.

Other

Cater won the British

WAAA Championships The WAAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) in England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event for women during its lifetime. Since 1880, the Amateur Athl ...

title in the 800 metres event at the

1982 WAAA Championships The 1982 WAAA Championships sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank, were the national track and field championships for women in the United Kingdom. The event was held at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London, from 30 to 31 July 198 ...

Personal life

Outside of her athletics career, Cater was a police officer with

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cater, Terri 1956 births Living people Australian female sprinters Australian female middle-distance runners Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian police officers Women police officers 20th-century police officers Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games 21st-century Australian sportswomen Medallists at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Place of birth missing (living people) Australian Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Australian sportswomen Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics