Betty Cuthbert became Australia’s Golden Girl by taking out the 100 and 200 metre sprints at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and adding a third gold in the 4×100 metre relay.
Forced by injury to miss the 1960 Rome Olympics when she was reigning world champion, she temporarily retired but came back to earn a place in the team for the Tokyo games in ’64 where she chose to concentrate on the newly introduced women’s 400 metres.
After looking unimpressive in the heats she produced a champion’s effort in the final to win her fourth Olympic gold medal and become the only athlete in history – male or female – to win Olympic gold over all the sprint distances 100, 200 and 400 metres. It remains a moment to savor.