Rob de Castella

Rob de Castella is one of the great marathoners produced in Australia. He ran the marathon at four Olympic Games (1980-1992) with a best finish of fifth in 1984. He was considered the world’s top marathoner in the mid-1980s, winning the first World Championship in the event, in 1983 at Helsinki. He was gold medalist at the 1982 and 1986 Commonwealth Games.

De Castella won several major city marathons, including the 1981 Fukuoka Marathon, then considered a de facto world championship. He also won at Rotterdam in 1983 and 1991 and the Boston Marathon in 1986. Nationally de Castella won the 1978 Australian cross-country championship, was the Australian 25 km champion in 1982-1983, and won the 1979 Australian marathon title.

De Castella became Director of the Australian Institute of Sport in 1990 and stayed in that position until 1995. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1982 and is a member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Personal Best: Mar – 2-07:51 (1986).