- Betty Judge
Betty Judge-Beazley is a former Australian athletics champion at 880 yards, who set two national records over the distance. She was the first coach of Olympic legend
Shirley Strickland and is the mother of a former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia.Athletics career
Judge's athletics career spanned from 1939 to 1947 and she set two national records at 880y. She first ran 2-24.7 in 1940 and, in 1947, reduced this time to 2-24.2 [http://www.geocities.com/geetee/bios/judge.html Athletics Gold profile] ] .
In her only national championships, at Perth in 1940, Judge won the 880y event and placed second in the 440 yards sprint [ [http://www.athletics.com.au/history/athletes/athlete2585.htm Athletics Australia profile] ] .
Her best time for the rarely-run 330 yards race (39.9), set in 1941, was later considered to be a world's best timeFields of Green, Lanes of Gold by Paul Jenes ISBN 0 949853 63 1] .
Coaching and Official Career
Betty Judge was the first coach of Olympic legend Shirley Strickland [ [http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2001/s278496.htm Australian Broadcasting Corporation - 730 Report - 'Strickland's Olympic gold goes up for auction'] ] , who set numerous world records and won seven
Olympic Games medals.From 1948 to 1952, Betty Beazley was President of the Australian Women's Amateur Athletics Union.
Personal life
Judge married Australian politician
Kim Edward Beazley on 7 February, 1947 [ [http://john.curtin.edu.au/fremantle/beazley.html Curtin University - Kim Edward Beazley] ] .Although the two had known each other via their education at
Perth Modern School and theUniversity of Western Australia , it was a chance meeting a church function that sparked their whirlwind courtship and marriage [ [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22584601-28737,00.html The Australian - 'Labor's moral pillar'] ] .On 14 December, 1948, their son Kim Beazley junior was born. He later became
Deputy Prime Minister of Australia .References
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