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Elizabeth “Betty” Alyse Cuthbert


Elizabeth “Betty” Alyse Cuthbert
Nationality Australian
Born 20 April 1938
Merrylands, New South Wales
Died 6 August 2017 (aged 79)
Mandurah, Western Australia

Elizabeth Alyse Cuthbert, AC, MBE was an Australian athlete and a fourfold Olympic champion. She was nicknamed Australia's "Golden Girl". During her career, she set world records for 60 metres, 100 yards, 200 metres, 220 yards and 440 yards. Cuthbert also contributed to Australian relay teams completing a win in the 4 × 100 metres, 4 × 110 yards, 4 × 200 metres and 4 × 220 yards. Cuthbert had a distinctive running style, with a high knee lift and mouth wide open. She was named in 1998 an Australian National Treasure and was inducted as a Legend in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Athletics Australia Hall of Fame in 2000.

Cuthbert had suffered from multiple sclerosis from 1969 on and in 2002 had a severe brain hemorrhage. She stated that, despite her MS, she never once asked God 'Why me?', and instead "knew that God wanted her to use it to help other people."
In 1985 Cuthbert became a born again Christian at the age of 47. Always believing she was a Christian, the speaker at a public rally said there were private practising Christians present. She did, however, initially want to be healed of her MS, and someone encouraged her to go to church where she could be healed. She claimed she went, looking for healing, instead of the Healer. In her own words: "I found out about the healer, and then I couldn't care less about the healing. That's the best thing. I get so much joy out of it and I want to tell other people about it. I think that's why I was meant to come back to the Olympics in 1964 because now I'm well known and it helps me to tell people about Jesus."

Following her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis, Cuthbert became a dedicated advocate for the disease and was an important player in the creation of MS Research Australia, attending the organisation's 2004 inauguration alongside then-PM John Howard. She was a tireless campaigner for national awareness of the disease, and, following her death in 2017, was credited by CEO of MS Research Australia, Dr. Matthew Miles, as having had an incredible impact on Australia's recognition and understanding of MS.

Cuthbert died in 2017, aged 79, in Mandurah. Cuthbert never married or had children. Rhonda Gillam, a 78-year-old West Australian mother-of-three, devoted the last 26 years of her life to caring for Cuthbert. Gillam stated that Cuthbert's MS also took her hearing.

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