Gael Martin
Gael Patricia Mulhall-Martin (born 27 August 1956) is a former Australian athlete who competed in the shot put and in the discus throw at the Olympic level and also had a career in powerlifting.
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Gael Patricia Mulhall-Martin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Melbourne[1] | 27 August 1956||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 98 kg (216 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | Shot put | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Athletics
Born in Melbourne, Mulhall-Martin is daughter of footballer Ken Mulhall, an Australian rules footballer with the St Kilda Football Club.[2]
She won the bronze medal in women's shot put at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United States,[1] becoming the first Australian (male or female) to win an Olympic medal in a throwing event.
Mulhall also competed in four successive Commonwealth Games events from 1974, winning double gold in Shot Put and Discus at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.
Coached by Franz Stampfl, she won a total of 20 senior Australian national championships in her career.[3]
At the 1981 Pan Pacific Conference Games she tested positive for the use of anabolic steroids and received an 18-month ban for cheating.[4]
Powerlifting
Gael Martin represented Australia in the Women's World Powerlifting Championships in 1981, 1983 and 1988. In 1987, Martin received a grant from the ACT Talented Athletes Development Awards program. The higher level grant, which Martin received, was awarded to applicants with international ranking and the support of their sporting organisation.[5]
Footnotes
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Gael Mulhall-Martin". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
- VFL Statistics: Ken Mulhall; "Cleared by Tribunal", The Age, (Wednesday, 29 July 1953), p.12
- Athletics Australia Profile
- "Drugs blitz on coaches". The Canberra Times. 9 October 1987. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- "Athletes sign 'no drugs' declaration". The Canberra Times. 9 December 1987. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
References
- Farber, M., "Drugs hurt career of Aussie woman", The (Montreal) Gazette, (Monday, 4 October 1982), p.F-5
- Goodwin, D., "Gael's firm — 'I'm not a drug taker' ", (Sydney) Sun Herald, (Sunday, 16 August 1981), p. 17
- Mitchell, N. and McMahon, P., "Mulhall may take life ban to court", The Age, (Wednesday, 15 July 1981), p. 36
- Nolan, D., "Gael is hoping to throw for gold", The Australian Women's Weekly, (Wednesday, 21 March 1979), p. 29
- Webster, J., "Mulhall to start her comeback on Saturday", The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday, 28 July 1982, p. 40
- 1973 photograph of Mulhall with Ray Rigby at an athletic meeting.