Ralph Doubell
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| Personal information | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
11 February 1945 (age 71) Melbourne, Australia | |||||||||
| 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 enrolled at Harvard Business School. He then 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 2 3 4 Ralph Doubell. sports-reference.com
- 1 2 3 "Ralph Doubell AM – Athletics". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ↑ The Sports Factor – Ralph Doubell & Franz Stampfl. abc.net.au. 12 January 2001
- ↑ "Pacific Conference Games". Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ↑ "The Queen's Birthday 2006 Honours List, Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia: Mr Ralph Douglas Doubell" (pdf). Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. Commonwealth of Australia. p. 65. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Peter Snell |
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 |
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