Raelene Boyle

A sprinter who competed at the 1968, 1972, and 1976 Olympics, Raelene Boyle won three silver medals, including two consecutive in the 200 metres in 1968-1972. Boyle was a legend at the British Empire / Commonwealth Games, winning seven gold medals and nine medals in all. She won gold in 1970 in the 100, 200, and 4x100 relay, repeating that trifecta in 1974, and won her final Commonwealth gold medal in 1982 in the 400 metres.

Boyle was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996 and later became a board member of Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA). She was appointed in 2007 as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to the community through a range of roles with organizations that support people with cancer, particularly Breast Cancer Network Australia.

Boyle honors and awards are numerous. In 1974, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to sport and was named that year as the ABC Sportsman of the Year. She was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985, and in 2004 became a member of the Athletics Australia Hall of Fame. In 2013 she was named in Australia’s Top 100 Sportswomen of All-Time and in 2017 she was named a legend in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony Boyle was a torchbearer within the stadium and famously assisted another Australian legend, Betty Cuthbert, by then stricken with multiple sclerosis, by pushing her wheelchair as Cuthbert also carried the torch at the Opening Ceremony.

Personal Bests: 100 – 11.20 (1968); 200 – 22.45 (1972); 400 – 51.08 (1982).