Dual Olympian, Di Burge, was named by Athletics SA as the SA Athlete of the Century.
Athlete of the Century in South Australia! That is the preeminent distinction given to Di Burge by Athletics SA.
She also won twice the coveted Lindy Award for the Australian Sportsperson of the Year.
In a remarkable juxtaposition of personal qualities, Di Burge was gracious, serene and gentle, but also extremely competitive. She was slightly built for a sprinter but fast.
Her coach, Len Barnes, affectionately nicknamed her ‘The Twerp’. The two enjoyed a close, trusting coach-athlete relationship throughout Di’s career.
She signalled her competitiveness at just 19. Running in her first Australian championships, she was unplaced in the final of the 100 yards. She returned the following year and won in a time of 10.6 seconds.
It was the first of her five national titles, three in the 100m and two in the 200m.
Di Burge first represented Australia at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. She advanced to the quarter finals of the 100m and ran in the Australian 4 x 100m relay team placing sixth in the final.
Two years later at the Commonwealth Games in Kingston she was named as the ‘Golden Girl’ of the Games, winning three gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4 x 110 relay.
She was the toast of an adoring Adelaide – ‘our Di’ – when the press reported her victories to an excited home audience.
In 1967 a special Commonwealth v USA event was hosted in Los Angeles. It’s almost unarguable that here Di Burge gave the best performance of her outstanding career.
She won both the 100 and 200m, beating the joint 100m world record holder and reigning Olympic Champion, Wyomia Tyus. She was ranked #2 in the world that year for the 100m and #3 for the 200m.
In 1968 Di set a new Commonwealth record of 11.2 in a pre-Olympic 100m race in Mexico City. Illness hampered her in the Games themselves, nevertheless she progressed to the 100m final, finishing sixth.
Burge won 16 State and 5 National Titles, and her State Records for the 100m and 200m remained untouched for three decades.
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