10 Facts About Raelene Boyle

Raelene Boyle was born on 24 June 1951, the daughter of Gilbert and Irene Raelene Boyle, in Coburg, a suburb of Melbourne.

Raelene Boyle was educated at Coburg High School in Melbourne.

At the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Raelene Boyle collected two more silver medals, in the 100-metre and 200-metre sprints.

In 1974, at the Christchurch British Commonwealth Games, Raelene Boyle duplicated her results at the Edinburgh Games, winning three more gold medals in the same three events.

At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Raelene Boyle finished fourth in the final of the 100-metre sprint, but was disqualified from the 200-metre-race for making two false starts.

However, Raelene Boyle did receive the honour of acting as the flag bearer for the Australian team, the first woman to do so.

Raelene Boyle was unable to replicate her previous Commonwealth success at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, winning only a silver medal in the 100-metre sprint before withdrawing from the 200m and relay due to injury.

Raelene Boyle was selected to compete in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow but eventually withdrew from the team for what she stated were personal reasons, during the long dispute within Australian sporting circles over whether to join the USA led boycott of the Games.

Raelene Boyle has stated she believes that she would have won gold at the 1972 Olympics if not for drug use by her competitor.

Raelene Boyle was diagnosed with cancer in 1996 and ovarian cancer in 2000 and 2001.