Petra Rivers is a retired 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 athlete who specialised in the javelin throw

Javelin throw

The javelin throw is a track and field athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. Javelin is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon...

.

At the 1970 National Championships

Australian Championships in Athletics

The Australian Athletics Championships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in a range of athletics events. The championships are the primary qualification trial for athletes wishing to compete at the Olympic Games,...

, she won both the Open and Junior javelin titles. Although still only seventeen, it was her fourth national junior javelin championship win. Her performances earned her a place in the Australian team for the 1970 Commonwealth Games

1970 British Commonwealth Games

The 1970 British Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland from 16 July to 25 July 1970.This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first time metric units rather than imperial units were used in events, and also the first time the games were held in...

 and she comfortably won the gold medal in Edinburgh.

In late 1971, she threw Australian and World Junior records of 61.76 and 62.24 metres, in quick succession but injury kept her out of the 1972 national titles and Olympic Games. She recovered to repeat her Commonwealth Games gold medal win in Auckland

1974 British Commonwealth Games

The 1974 British Commonwealth Games were held in Christchurch, New Zealand from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games....

 but continuing injuries forced her retirement from the sport, at age 22, in 1975.

Four years later, Rivers returned from retirement and gained Olympic selection for the 1980 Moscow Olympics

1980 Summer Olympics

The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...

. She won the 1982 national championships with a huge national record throw of 69.28 metres and took the silver medal at the Brisbane Commonwealth Games

1982 Commonwealth Games

The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 30 September–9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium , in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the venue which was used for the athletics and archery competitions during the...

 behind team-mate Sue Howland.

Rivers went on to compete in the 1984 LA Olympics

1984 Summer Olympics

The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...

 and 1986 Commonwealth Games.