Betty Cuthbert, only athlete ever to win Olympic 100, 200 and 400 metres, dies at 79

Australian Olympic icon Betty Cuthbert, the only athlete to ever win gold in the 100, 200, and 400 metres events, has died aged 79 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, IAAF said in a release on Monday.

Born in New South Wales in 1938, Cuthbert excelled in athletics as a teenager and broke the 200 world record in 1956. Later that year, she won Olympic gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4x100 on home soil in Melbourne, becoming the “Golden Girl” of the Games.

She suffered an injury at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and subsequently retired. But she returned to action at the 1962 Commonwealth Games. Two years later, she focused on the 400 and won gold in that event at the 1964 Olympics.

In 2000 Cuthbert was one of the torch bearers at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sydney. She was one of the inaugural inductees to the IAAF Hall of Fame in 2012.

Swimmer Ian Thorpe is the only Australian to claim more Olympic gold medals, with five.

“Betty was the Golden Girl of the track and a national heroine,” said Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates.

“It’s very sad to lose such a great champion. Betty battled her illness for many years and showed tremendous courage, but more importantly she always managed to smile.”

Born in Sydney, she moved to West Australia in later life after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1969, which confined her to a wheelchair.

She returned to the spotlight in 2000 when she took part in the ceremony to light the cauldron at the Sydney Olympic Games.

Cuthbert was an inaugural member of the Athletics Australia Hall of Fame and she was inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame in 2012.

“Rest in peace Betty Cuthbert – an inspiration and a champion on and off the track,” tweeted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, while fellow track legend Cathy Freeman said: “Thank you for the inspirational memories, Betty Cuthbert.”

(with inputs from AFP)