Ralph Doubell
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Athletics | ||
Competitor for  Australia |
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| Olympic Games | ||
| Gold | 1968 Mexico City | 800 metres |
Ralph Douglas Doubell AM (born 11 February 1945) is an Australian former athlete, and gold medallist at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
[edit] Biography
Born in Melbourne, Ralph Doubell had a relatively short international athletics career, but he managed to reach his peak at just the right time and in just the right place - an Olympic Games final.
Doubell was a graduate from the University of Melbourne, where he had come under the tutelage of legendary Austrian-born coach Franz Stampfl. 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.
In Mexico, the overwhelming favourite in the Olympic 800 m final was Wilson Kiprugut of Kenya who led the field through 400 m in 51.0, and was still leading at the home turn, where Doubell made his move, passing Kiprugut down the straight to win the gold medal in a world record equalling time of 1:44.3. This time is notable for the fact that no Australian male has yet been able to equal this time, and the time has stood as the Australian record for almost four decades. Doubell had planned to compete at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, but was prevented by calf injuries, which hastened his retirement.
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.
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".
[edit] References
| 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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- 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 (Victoria)
- Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
