Ralph Doubell

Ralph Douglas Doubell AM (born 11 February 1945) is an Australian former athlete, and gold medallist at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Ralph Doubell
AM
Doubell in 1968
Personal information
Born11 February 1945 (1945-02-11) (age 78)
Melbourne, Australia
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight65 kg (143 lb)
Sport
SportMiddle-distance running
ClubUniversity of Melbourne
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)1:44.30 (800 m, 1968)[1]
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1968 Mexico City800 metres

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 from 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. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ralph Doubell". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  2. "Ralph Doubell AM". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  3. The Sports Factor – Ralph Doubell & Franz Stampfl. abc.net.au. 12 January 2001
  4. "Pacific Conference Games". Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  5. "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.
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