Dianne Burge (born 9 October 1943) is a former Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n sprinter

Sprint (race)

Sprints are short running events in athletics and track and field. Races over short distances are among the oldest running competitions. The first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event—the stadion race, which was a race from one end of the stadium to the other...

 who competed in two Olympic Games

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 and won three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

. She was awarded the title South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

n 'Athlete of the Century' by Athletics South Australia.

Early Athletics Career

In 1963, Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

 sprinter, Diane Bowering, won the Australian 100 yard Championships in an upset. She was virtually unknown outside of her home state but ended the year ranked as #3 in the world. She competed for Adelaide Harriers and was coached by Len Barnes who nicknamed her 'the twerp'

International Athletics Career

A year later, Bowering ran second in the national 100y title and earned a place in the Australian team for the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. At the Games, she did not progress past the second round of the 100 metres, but made the final of the 4x100 metres relay with the Australian team.

Now married and running as Dianne Burge, she starred in the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica from 4 August to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions....

 in Kingston

Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...

, Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

, winning gold medals at 100 yards, 220 yards and in the 4x110 yards relay. At the end of the year, she was world ranked #6 for 100 metres and #5 for 200 metres.

In 1967, she won the 100 m and 200 m at the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 versus British Commonwealth meet in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, beating Olympic champion Wyomia Tyus

Wyomia Tyus

Wyomia Tyus is an American athlete, and the first person to retain the Olympic title in the 100 m....

 and was ranked #2 in the world for 100 m and #3 for 200 m by Track and Field News.

Burge won the sprint double at the 1968 Australian Championships, running fast times of 11.3 and 23.0 with the 100 metres time a new Australian record. Considered a medal favourite at the Mexico Olympics

1968 Summer Olympics

The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...

, she was affected by illness in Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

 and did well to make the 100 metres final, placing sixth.

She was ranked sixth in the world for 100 metres, when she retired from the sport in early 1969.

Awards

Burge was awarded the inaugural Sportswomen's Association of Australia (SA Division) 'Sportswoman of the Year' award in 1966.

She was named as the 'Athlete of the Century' by Athletics South Australia.

Statistics

Personal Bests

Event	Time	Wind	Place	Date
60 m	7.2	-	Brisbane Brisbane Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of... , Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	13 March 1968
100 y	10.4	-	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... , Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	18 March 1966
Automatic	10.58	+0.1	Kingston, Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...	8 August 1966
100 m	11.2	-	Mexico City Mexico City Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole... , Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...	4 October 1968
Automatic	11.33	+1.8	Mexico City Mexico City Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole... , Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...	14 October 1968
200 m	23.0	-	Adelaide Adelaide Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million... , Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	10 March 1968
Automatic	23.65	0.0	Mexico City Mexico City Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole... , Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...	17 March 1968
220 y	23.73	0.0	Kingston, Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...	11 August 1966

World Rankings - 100 m and 200 m

Year	100 m	200 m
1963	3	-
1964	-	-
1965	-	-
1966	6	5
1967	3	2
1968	6	-

Australian Championships Record

Year	100y/100 m	220y/200 m
1963	1	DNQ
1964	2	DNQ
1965	3	1
1966	2	5
1967	1	DNQ
1968	1	1

• DNQ=Did not qualify for final (only six athletes per final in this era)