Jean Roberts
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jean Evelyn Roberts |
| Nationality |  Australia |
| Born | 18 August 1943 Geelong, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 17 September 2024 (aged 81) Canberra, Australia |
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 69 kg (152 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | Discus throw, shot put |
| Club | Coburg Harriers, Coburg Birchfield Harriers, Birmingham Delaware Sports Club, Delaware USA |
| Coached by | John Cheffers(1958-1968), Wilf Paish(1971-1972) |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | DT – 55.91 m (1974) SP – 16.38 m (1972)[1] |
Medal record | |
Jean Evelyn Roberts (18 August 1943 – 17 September 2024) was an Australian Olympic athlete who competed in the shot put and discus throw events.
Biography
[edit]Roberts competed for the Coburg club, alongside athletes such as Raelene Boyle and Carolyn Lewis.[2]
Roberts won a total of 13 Australian Championships in Athletics between 1962 and 1970, including eight in the Shot Put. She also won two British Championships in the Shot Put in 1971 and 1972.[3]
Roberts was a versatile athlete, winning the 1967 Victorian State Pentathlon championship with 3985 points[4] and placing second in 1969.[5]
She competed at four Commonwealth Games between 1962 and 1974, winning medals on each occasion, and represented Australia at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.[6] Her elder sister Val Roberts competed in gymnastics at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics.[7]
Roberts won the discus throw at the Pacific Conference Games in 1969 at Tokyo.[8]
Roberts also won the 1973 and 1975 American Athletic Union championships in the discus.
Roberts received her Doctorate of Education from Temple University in the mid 1970s and then coached and taught at the University of New Hampshire.
She coached thrower Gael Martin to two gold medals at the 1986 Commonwealth Games.[9]
She was the first Director of Coaching for the Australian Athletic Union from 1979 -1985. She was appointed an administrator at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in 1985 and worked there until 2001. Whilst at the AIS, she managed the Olympic Training Centre Programs in the lead up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics for athletes, coaches and sports medicine practitioners from Oceania and ten African countries.[10][11][12] [13]
Roberts career was recognised through several awards - Australian Olympic Committee Order of Merit (1996), Oceania Athletics’ Merit Award (1997) and the Australian Sports Medal (2000).[9]
Roberts died in Canberra on 17 September 2024, at the age of 81.[14][15][9]
References
[edit]- ^ All time performances. Athletics Australia
- ^ List of international athletes Archived 22 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Coburg Harriers. Retrieved on 19 June 2015.
- ^ List of UK National Champions. GBRathletics. Retrieved on 19 June 2015.
- ^ "1967 Victorian Women's Championships". athsvic.org.au. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
- ^ "1969 Victorian Women's Championships". athsvic.org.au. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
- ^ Jean Roberts. Athletics Australia
- ^ Jean Roberts Archived 19 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine. sports-reference.com
- ^ Pacific Conference Games medalists Retrieved on 19 May 2016
- ^ a b c "Vale Dr. Jean Evelyn Roberts". Athletics Australia. 26 September 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ Australian Athletic Union News No 12, May 1980
- ^ Olympic Training Centres. 1998 Report. Australian Olympic Committee
- ^ Oceania National Olympic Committees. Annual Report 2000
- ^ a b Australia, Athletics. "Vale Dr Jean Evelyn Roberts". www.athletics.com.au. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ "Athletics Australia acknowledges the long service to the sport of athletics in Australia and the Pacific of its first National Coaching Director, Jean Roberts who passed away yesterday on September 17, 2024". Athletics Australia on X. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ "In Loving Memory of Jean Roberts". W. T. Dennis & Son. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
| Other | |
External links
[edit]- 1943 births
- 2024 deaths
- Australian female shot putters
- Australian female discus throwers
- Olympic athletes for Australia
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia
- Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia
- Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games
- Australian pentathletes
- Sportspeople from Geelong
- 20th-century Australian women
- Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
- Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
- Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games
- Medallists at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games
- Sportswomen from Victoria (state)
- Australian Athletics Championships winners
- Australian athletics coaches
- Australian sports executives and administrators
- Australian Institute of Sport administrators