Anne Shanley won the State Open 220-yard
championships at age 13.
At the wedding of Anne Shanley to fellow Adelaide Harriers runner, Colin Cooper, they walked through an archway of javelins formed by their clubmates.
The wedding had to be delayed, however, because the original date coincided with the Opening Ceremony of the 1950 Empire Games – the Commonwealth Games – in which Anne Shanley was to compete.
She loved running from a young age and at 12 she joined the Adelaide Harriers.
In 1942, Ann Shanley won the SA Open 220 yards Champs at the age of 13. From there on, she won every 100 yards State Championships for the rest of the decade, except once when she was injured. Joy Morgan, a dominant long jumper, was also a close runner-up to Ann Shanley in the sprints.
In 1950, Ann Shanley earned the distinction of being SA’s first female National Champion, the first female National record holder, and SA’s first international female athlete.
She won a career total of 26 State Championships in 100, 200, and 440 yards, shot put and long jump.
She recalled: ‘The (Empire Games) trials were in Adelaide, and I had stiff opposition in Marjorie Jackson, who was number one in the world at the time.’ But Shanley was selected in the sprints, relay and, amazingly, as a shot putter as well.
‘It was the first time I’d ever been on a plane, and from Sydney to New Zealand we were in a flying boat – a seaplane – that was the most exciting part!’
‘It was the first Games after the war – it was very austere. They didn’t turn it on, but it didn’t matter, we still had a great time. I was only young, and I hadn’t been away before, so everything was exciting.’
The young South Australian was 6th in the 100 yards and 4th in the 220 yards, and then teamed with Marjorie Jackson, Shirley Strickland and Verna Johnson to win gold in the 660 yards medley relay.
Later in life, she took up athletics again, and her love of running continued.
Anne Shanley describes it this way; ‘It’s just the excitement of running, getting down on the blocks, waiting for the gun, oh gee! I miss all that. When I was 50, I joined the Veterans’ Masters Athletics, and I travelled quite a bit overseas.’
‘The last race I had was in Italy, when I was an old girl of 80 running around the track!’
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