Ralph Doubell
Personal information | ||||||||||
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Born | 11 February 1945 (age 79) Melbourne, Australia |
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Alma mater | University of Melbourne | |||||||||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||
Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) | |||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||
Sport | Middle-distance running | |||||||||
Club | University of Melbourne | |||||||||
Achievements and titles | ||||||||||
Personal best(s) | 1:44.40 (800 m, 1968)[1] | |||||||||
Medal record
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Ralph Douglas Doubell AM (born 11 February 1945) is an Australian former athlete, and gold medallist at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He is also a member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia.
Athletic career
Doubell was born in Melbourne, was educated at Melbourne High School[2] and graduated from the University of Melbourne, where he had come under the tutelage of Austrian-born coach Franz Stampfl.[3]
Doubell's first major international victory in 800 metres was at the World Student Games in Tokyo in 1967 in a time of 1:46.7. His next season (the Olympic season) was severely curtailed by Achilles' tendon injuries, and he was unable to compete for six months prior to the Olympic Games in Mexico City.[1] Doubell, however, was able to recover in time for Mexico City and won the 800 m gold medal, passing the pre-race favourite Wilson Kiprugut of Kenya down the straight to win in a world record equalling time of 1:44.3.[1]
Doubell also won the 800 metres gold medal at the 1969 Pacific Conference Games in a time of 1:48.0.[4]
Doubell had planned to compete at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, but was prevented in doing so by calf injuries, which brought on his retirement from competitive athletics.[2]
Post-athletic career
After retirement from sports, Doubell worked as a Head of Relationship Management and a Director and Divisional Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking of the Deutsche Bank Group in Australia. He was a Director of Telstra Stadium in Sydney until 2007.[1]
Doubell was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.[2] On 12 June 2006, in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, he was made a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia, for "services to athletics through administrative roles, particularly with Athletics New South Wales, and as a competitor".[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ralph Doubell. sports-reference.com
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The Sports Factor – Ralph Doubell & Franz Stampfl. abc.net.au. 12 January 2001
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Records | ||
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Preceded by | Men's 800 metres World Record Holder equalled by Dave Wottle (USA) on 1972-07-01 1968-10-15 – 1973-06-27 |
Succeeded by Marcello Fiasconaro |
- Use dmy dates from June 2015
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- 1945 births
- Living people
- Australian businesspeople
- Australian middle-distance runners
- Former world record holders in athletics (track and field)
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics
- Olympic gold medalists for Australia
- Sportspeople from Melbourne
- People educated at Melbourne High School
- Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Members of the Order of Australia
- Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees