At the start of the 1950s Australia boasted a very strong women's track team. The outstanding 1948 Olympic medallist Shirley Strickland and new World Record breaker Marjorie Jackson (pictured at left with fellow sprinter Winsome Cripps) were major world stars of the time. After their huge success in the 1950 Empire Games, both Strickland and Jackson looked set for medals at the next Olympic Games in 1952 at Helsinki.

It seemed that Australia could have send the largest Olympic team yet. The Empire Games relay team (Strickland, Jackson, Johnston and Shanley) were considered a good medal prospect in addition to their individual chances.

Newcomers like Winsome Cripps, Marlene Matthews, Judy Canty and Norma Austin were also mentioned as Olympic hopes but, in the end, only Jackson, Strickland, Cripps and Johnston were sent to Helsinki. The relay squad, almost unbackable as gold medal favourites, had to fight to get to the Games. A huge fund-raising effort from the quartet was required before the relay team was a confirmed entry in the Games.

The team began it's tour with a record breaking 4x110y race in England. In Helsinki they became (pro rata) the most successful women's team ever to represent Australia. The Olympic Programme commenced with the 100m. Cripps won the first heat and Strickland the ninth, both running 12.0. Jackson, however, brought the event to life with a tremendous exhibition, running 11.6, just one tenth outside the Olympic record. She matched this time later in the second round while the other Australians were content to qualify in third place.

In the semi-finals Jackson and Cripps ran 1-2 in the first semi-final with the 'Lithgow Flash' equalling the world record of 11.5. Shirley Strickland improved to run 11.9 and run a close second in the other semi final. Marjorie Jackson got off to a fast start in the final and was never headed. She again equalled the world record and Strickland and Cripps ran third and fourth, both in 11.9 seconds. Gold and Bronze to Australia - and this was only the first event on the track.

In the 80m Hurdles, Shirley Strickland was on her own against defending champion and world record holder Fanny Blankers-Koen. Strickland won the first heat in 11.0 to smash Blankers-Koen's Olympic record and equal the world mark. Blankers-Koen won the next heat in a fast time too, but she was suffering from carbuncles and did not seem sharp.

In the semi-finals Strickland ran the fastest time ever - 10.8 - to win a good race. Wind assistance prevented a world record but in the final Strickland made it her own running a legal 10.9 to comfortably win Gold. Blankers-Koen hit a hurdle and did not finish. Winsome Cripps (pictured at right) was unlucky in the Helsinki Games.

Strickland decided to rest from the 200m, in which she was considered a medal hope, and save her efforts for the relay. Jackson and Cripps ran the furlong and Jackson established herself as the absolute favourite by equalling the world record in her first round win. In the semi-finals, she took two tenths off a second off this mark with a phenomenal 23.6. Her future husband, cyclist Peter Nelson, was at the track and Marjorie said later "I think I was trying to show off". Cripps ran second in her semi to also qualify for the final. In the medal round, Jackson won by about six metres in 23.7 and Cripps was unlucky to finish fourth in a blanket finish. She clocked 24.2, the same time as the silver and bronze medallists.

Verna Johnston (who had finished a solid eighth in the Long Jump final) joined her country women in the relay and in the first heat they smashed the sixteen year old World Record running 46.1 seconds. In the final, after swift legs by Strickland, Johnston and Cripps the Australians were well ahead and on target for another phenomenal time. Tragically as Marjorie Jackson had taken the baton from Cripps, Cripps' knee hit Jackson's hand and the baton bounced on the track. Amazingly Jackson caught it and continued to chase, but precious time had been lost. The Australians finished 5th in 46.6 - surely with a clean change they would have run at least 45.6 to smash their own record. The event was won by the USA in 45.9, but the Australians demonstrated 'smiling good sportsmanship' after their misfortune.

Regardless of this bad luck, the quartet was still our best performing women's team ever. All athletes made the final in each event they started. They won three gold and one bronze medal and set world records in four events. Amazing stuff!

Marjorie Jackson and Winsome Cripps continued their success into the next major international competition, the 1954 Empire Games, in Vancouver, Canada. The two West Australians, Strickland and Johnston, had bad health problems in 1953 and were not picked in the 1954 team. Johnston had retired late in 1953 but Strickland had made a huge comeback and looked to be in dangerous form on home turf in the 1954 National Championships.

In a contentious decision she withdrew from the sprint to concentrate on the hurdles. In the hurdles final, Strickland stayed on her blocks as the field race towards the finish line. Strickland claimed she heard a second shot indicating a false start, but she was not selected in the team despite support from the men's association. She even offered to pay her own way but was not successful.

Jackson and Cripps dominated the 100y and 220y events in Vancouver. Both events could even have been Australian clean sweeps, but #2 Australian Marlene Matthews pulled a muscle in her 100y heat and failed to compete again in the Games. Hurdler Gwen Wallace was added to the relay team of Cripps, Jackson and Nancy Fogarty and the team was still strong enough to win the event. No other Australian athletes won medals, however, showing that there was not a lot of depth in events other than the sprints.

Marjorie Jackson retired after the Empire Games to raise a family in Adelaide. Shirley Strickland however, now a mother, re-established herself as one of the world's best athletes. Competing in the 1955 World Student Games in Warsaw, she won the hurdles, ran third in the 200m and suprised everyone by not just winning the 100m, but smashing the world record with a time of 11.3. She made it known that she wanted to become the first athlete to defend an Olympic title in 1956. However she would have plenty of competition from other emerging athletes such as Marlene Matthews, Norma Austin and a youngster from New South Wales called Betty Cuthbert.

100y

10.4	Marjorie Jackson	Sydney		08/03/52	WR

100m

11.4	Marjorie Jackson	Gifu		04/10/52	WR

11.65	Marjorie Jackson	Helsinki	22/07/52

220y

24.0w*	Marjorie Jackson	Sydney		20/02/54	WR *(+7.0mps)
24.0	Marjorie Jackson	Vancouver	05/08/54	WR

200m

23.4	Marjorie Jackson	Helsinki	25/07/52	WR

23.59	Marjorie Jacskon	Helsinki	25/07/52

440y

56.6	Pamela Bryant		Perth		27/02/54	WR

880y

2-20.7	Beris Folland		Perth		28/02/54

80m Hurdles	

10.9	Shirley Strickland	Helsinki	25/07/52	WR

11.03	Shirley Strickland	Helsinki	25/07/52

Long Jump

6.007	Judy Canty		Sydney		18/02/50

High Jump

1.625	Mary Grace		Melbourne	28/01/52
1.625	Carol Bernoth		Perth		28/02/54

Shot Putt	

12.56	Val Lawrence		Perth		09/01/54

Discus	

38.67	Doris Carter		Melbourne	02/12/39

Javelin

41.18	Charlotte McGibbon 	Melbourne	08/03/47

4x110y Relay

46.3	Shirley Strickland	London		04/08/52	WR
	Verna Johnston
	Winsome Cripps
	Marjorie Jackson

4x100m Relay

46.1	Shirley Strickland	Helsinki	27/07/52
	Verna Johnston
	Winsome Cripps
	Marjorie Jackson

46.23	Australia (as above)	Helsinki	27/05/52

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