Lee Naylor (athlete)

Lee Naylor (born January 26, 1971 in Shepparton, Victoria) is a retired middle-distance runner from Australia, who mainly competed in the 400 metres. A member of Melbourne University, she was one of Australia's greatest stalwart in the women’s 4x400 metres relay team during the 1990s.

Naylor made her debut for Australia at a major meet in Victoria, Canada at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, where she was part of the Australian relay team which was disqualified. Her brother Shane, who was at that time one of Australia’s top sprinters, also competed in Victoria.

Both Lee and her brother competed on the professional circuit in Australia with one of her memorable wins being as the backmarker in a 400 m event at the Sunbury oval prior to the Centenary cricket match.

The brother-sister act were again selected for Australia the following year to compete at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg. In the lead-up to the meet Naylor was in excellent form, her results including a victory at the Helsinki Grand Prix meet. She came away from the worlds with a bronze medal in the relay, the only medal won by the Australian team at the meet.

Naylor made her first Olympic team for Atlanta having finished second in the national trials. She ran well at the 1996 Summer Olympics progressing to the quarter-finals before being knocked out. However the relay team didn’t make the final in Atlanta, Georgia.

Naylor had a good domestic season in 1998 and capped that off with a fine performance at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, finishing fifth in the final. She also ran the third leg of the gold-medal winning relay team in Kuala Lumpur.

Last year she was chosen in the team to travel to Seville for the 1999 World Championships. Naylor ran well in the heats, but was disqualified for taking too many steps on the line in her lane. She was part of the relay team which finished sixth.

Nicknamed “Lethal” by her team-mates, she has completed a doctorate in neurochemistry at Melbourne University.

References

* [http://www.abc.net.au/olympics/2000/profiles/LEENAYLOR.htm ABC Profile]