Editing Betty Cuthbert (section)

==Athletic career==
[[File:Betty Cuthbert, Marlene Mathews, Heather Armitage, 1956 Olympics.jpg|thumb|Betty Cuthbert, 100 m final, 1956 Olympics]]
Cuthbert was a member of the [[Western Suburbs Athletic Club]].<ref name=olympic/> At the age of 18, with the [[1956 Summer Olympics]] to be held in [[Melbourne]], Cuthbert set a World Record in the 200 metres, making her one of the favourites for a gold in that event. Cuthbert first reached the finals of the 100 metres, setting an Olympic record of 11.4 seconds in her heat (also her personal best), while the Australian world record holder [[Shirley Strickland]] was eliminated.

Cuthbert won the final and was then the big favourite for the 200 metres title. She lived up to the expectations and became the Australian "Golden Girl". A third gold medal for Cuthbert came when she ran the final leg on in the 4 × 100 metres final, which the Australian team won in a new world record.

During 1958 Cuthbert set world records for 100 and 220 yards but was beaten in both events by arch-rival and double-Olympic bronze medallist [[Marlene Mathews]] at the Australian Championships. Later in the year, at the [[1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games]] in [[Cardiff]], Wales, Cuthbert could only place fourth in the 100y and second in the 220y, again behind Mathews.

She set a world record at 440 yards, which was broken in September 1959 by [[Maria Itkina]] of the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xe00AAAAIBAJ&pg=3303,2275936 |title=Miss Cuthbert Loses Record |newspaper=The Age |date=15 September 1959 |access-date=15 August 2011}}</ref>

In the lead-up to the [[1960 Summer Olympics]], in [[Rome]], Cuthbert set a world 220 yards and 200 metres record of 23.2 seconds in winning the Australian championships. At the Rome Games, she suffered from injury and was eliminated from the quarterfinals of the 100 metres. Subsequently, she retired from the sport of track and field.

Her retirement did not last long, though, for she returned at the [[1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games]] in [[Perth]], Western Australia, helping Australia to a gold medal in the [[Athletics at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games – Women's 4 × 110 yards relay|sprint relay]].

Afterwards, she concentrated on the 400 metres, and she competed in that event in the [[1964 Summer Olympics]] in [[Tokyo]], when it was on the Olympic program for women for the first time. Though not impressive in the heats, Cuthbert won the title for her fourth Olympic gold medal, beating [[Ann Packer]] of Great Britain in an Olympic record of 52.01.<ref name=iaaf/> She is the only [[Olympic Games|Olympian]], male or female, to have won a gold medal in all [[sprint (running)]] events: 100, 200 and 400 metres. She subsequently verified her retirement for good after Tokyo. Also in 1964 she received the [[World Trophy for Australasia|Helms Award]] for her sporting contributions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Betty Cuthbert |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/cu/betty-cuthbert-1.html |website=sports-reference.com |publisher=Sports ReferenceLLC |access-date=12 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518102256/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/cu/betty-cuthbert-1.html |archive-date=18 May 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

She was coached by [[June Maston|June Ferguson]], who was her physical education teacher in high school.<ref>{{cite web|title=June Ferguson|url=http://athletics.com.au/About-Us/Hall-of-Fame/June-Ferguson|website=Athletics Australia Hall of Fame website|access-date=7 August 2017}}</ref><ref name=dt/>