The seventh decade of the Twentieth Century began somewhat disappointingly for Australia's women athletes. At the 1960 Olympic Games, a highly regarded Australian team had performed below its' best in athletics competition and stars such as Betty Cuthbert, Marlene Mathews and Norma Thrower were considered to have been past their best.

The main success of Rome had been movie international Brenda Jones who won a silver medal in the 800m.  The event had been resurrected after 32 years absence from the Games programme and Australia looked to have a medal chance in Australian Champion Dixie Willis, who won her semi-final in a fast time.  In the final, Willis led but staggered off the track, suffering from nervous exhaustion.  Jones slashed her personal best, and the Australian record, to take a surprise silver medal behind the Russian champion.  

In field events, Helen Frith (High Jump) and Anna Pazera (Javelin) did well to place in the top six of their events.  These two athletes continued to excel in their events at a national level for most of the 1960s, with Frith extending her success to long jump and pentathlon events.  Australian depth in high-jumping events was at a record high with Michele Mason, Robyn Woodhouse and Carolyn Wright also rated as amongst the world's elite for much of the decade.

The Commonwealth Games team of 1962 represented a changing of the guard, with only a few athletes from previous international teams being selected.  Dixie Willis and Betty Cuthbert - the latter recently returning to athletics after a year's retirement - were two of the veterans who did will in Perth.  Willis won the 880y, setting a world record time in front of her home crowd, while Cuthbert came from behind, to anchor Australia's relay team to a relatively unexpected Gold medal.  The major star of these Games was Pam Kilborn, who won the Long Jump and the 80m Hurdles.

Kilborn considered herself unlucky to have missed out on selection for the 1960 Olympics after placing third in the trials, competing with a bad case of influenza.  She suffered similar bad luck at the 1962 National Championships, where she was the beaten favourite, but came back strongly to win the Commonwealth Games trials.  In the hurdles, though her time was slowed by strong headwinds, she beat the Australian world-record holder Betty Moore, who was competing for the English team.

Pam Kilborn and Dixie Willis continued to improve in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympics and were considered strong medal favourites.  Other medal chances in Tokyo included Western Australia's new world record-holder over 220y, Margaret Burvill and former Olympic champion Betty Cuthbert over the new Olympic sprint distance of 400m.

In the Games, Australia had generally good success.  In short sprints, the favoured Margaret Burvill and Joyce Bennett ran well below form, but the lower ranked Marilyn Black surprised with some fine running in the 100m and 200m.  In the 100m, a poor start in the final probably cost her a medal but she came back well with a fine run of 23.18 in the 200m which won her a surprise bronze medal.

In the new 400m event, Betty Cuthbert repeated her success from Melbourne, running a huge personal best to win the gold medal, upsetting Britain's Ann Packer.  Another surprise came from Judy Amoore, a training partner of Pam Kilborn's, with her fine runs resulting in a bronze medal.  Dixie Willis, who had been expected to run well at 400m or 800m suffered from a combination of injuries and nerves and, disappointingly, did not start in the Tokyo Games.

Pam Kilborn featured in a tight photo-finish in the 80m Hurdles.  She was adjudged third, just a whisker away from Gold.  After the Games, she equalled the world record and was almost unbeatable over the event for the rest of the decade.

In field events, Michele Mason-Browne became Australia's most successful performer ever, winning a silver medal in the High Jump, behind the unbeatable Iolanda Balas of Hungary.  Soon after the Games, in Melbourne, Michele became only the second woman in the world to clear the six foot (1.83m) barrier.  

The final retirements of Betty Cuthbert and Dixie Willis left Judy Amoore, soon Mrs Pollock, as Australia's star in long sprint and middle distance events.  She set a world record for 440y during the 1965 Australian Championships after an i indoor season in North America where she set a range of records in various events.  Another athlete who had record success on the American indoor scene was Pam Kilborn, who won the 100y as well as the hurdles in those national championships.  She had been omitted from relay teams at both of her international competitions and was determined to run for Australian at future Games events.

Kilborn did this at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, winning a relay gold in addition to successful defending her hurdles title.  The major Australian star of the Games was South Australia's petite Diane Burge, who won the 100m and 200m in a slight upset.  Burge had not been rated a big-time performer after running below her best at her international debut in the Tokyo Games.  She excelled in Jamaica though and was rated amongst the world's top few sprinters until her retirement in 1969.  Behind her in the sprints was a youngster named Jenny Lamy, who had run fast times in Sydney and was expected to be a major star of the future.

Judy Pollock won the 440y, as expected, and added a silver medal in her new 880y event.  She also made the final of the 220y event and was a reserve for the sprint relay.  She undertook a tour of Europe in 1967 and set world records for 800m and 880y, making her a favourite for medal success at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games.  Pollock became pregnant prior to the Games and could not compete.

Michele Browne took Gold in the 1966 High Jump, while Margaret Parker upset Anna Pazera to take the Javelin Gold Medal.

In 1967 and 1968, new talent became to emerge as Australia's athletes prepared for the Mexico City Olympic Games.  Young Sydney girl Maureen Caird, coached by June Maston-Ferguson, was rapidly improving and began to press Pam Kilborn over the hurdles.  Another teenager, Victorian Raelene Boyle, was also showing evidence of athletic ability in junior sprint events while a range of youngsters in field events were helping to improve national standards.

Di Burge and Pam Kilborn were about the only certainties in the 1968 team.  Despite ample talent, the selectors chose only a small squad of eight for the Games, but the team's results are some of the most impressive of any Australian team at an international competition.

Despite severe illness in Mexico City, Diane Burge set a personal best and placed sixth in the 100m.  Her gastric troubles probably cost her a medal considering her impressive form in 1967, where she beating the best American sprinters over 100m and 200m, despite being 'out of season'. 

While Burge had a disappointing competition, the teenagers Raelene Boyle and Jenny Lamy achieved excellent performances in their Olympic debuts.  Boyle ran a national record of 11.20 to place fourth in the 100m, just missing a bronze medal by 0.01 seconds.  Angry at missing the medals in the shorter distance, Boyle ran brilliantly through all rounds of the 200m, setting Olympic records, as did her team-mate Lamy.  In the final, the Australian youngsters ran terrific races, winning silver (Boyle) and bronze (Lamy) behind the great Polish sprinter Irena Szewinska.

In the 80m hurdles, being held for the last time, hot favourite Pam Kilborn was upset by another teenage Australia, Maureen Caird in a shock result.  Kilborn was suffering from a shoulder injury, but would not blame this for her loss.  The Australian 1-2 in this event is the best ever result by two Australians in one athletics event.

The Australian relay team of Di Burge, Jenny Lamy, Raelene Boyle & Pam Kilborn was rated a strong chance of upsetting the Americans in the 4x100m event, but just before the Games it had been discovered that Kilborn's name had not been submitted and she had to be replaced by the out of form Joyce Bennett, who ran poorly in the 400m event at the Games.

This undesirable change surely affected the performance of the team; though the Australians beat the previous world record, they finished fifth in a high-standard competition.  The medal haul of one gold, two silver and one bronze medal plus four other finals placings for this small squad rates as one of the best performances of any Australian team.  Added with the male tally of one gold and one silver medal, it ranked the Australian team as one of the most successful squads in the world.  Things looked bright for the 1970s.

Australian Best Performances as at 1 January, 1970.

100y 10.3 Marlene Mathews Sydney 20/03/58 WR 100m 11.20A Raelene Boyle Mexico City 68 220y 22.9 Margaret Burvill Perth 64 200m 22.7A Raelene Boyle Mexico City 68 440y 52.4 Judy Amoore-Pollock Perth 65 80m Hurdles 10.39A Maureen Caird Mexico City 68 Long Jump 6.4 Helen Frith Melbourne 64 High Jump 1.835 Micheline Mason-Browne Melbourne 64 Shot Putt Jean Roberts Javelin 57.08 Anna Pazera Cardiff 24/07/58 4x110y Relay 45.6 Shirley Strickland Sydney 05/12/56 WR Norma Croker Fleur Mellor Betty Cuthbert 4x100m Relay 43.5 Jenny Lamy Mexico City 68 Joyce Bennett Raelene Boyle Diane Burge 4x200m/4x220y Relay 1-3 Marion Hoffman Brisbane 69 WR Jenny Lamy Raelene Boyle Pam Kilborn

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