View source for Decima Norman

{{Short description|Australian long jumper (1909–1983)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2025}}
{{ Infobox sportsperson
| name           = Decima Norman<br /><small>{{nobold|{{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|MBE}}}}</small>
| image          = Decima Norman 1938.jpg
| imagesize      = <!--Only for images narrower than 220 pixels.-->
| caption        = Decima Norman, Empire Games, Sydney, 11 February 1938
| birth_name     = Clara Decima Norman
| fullname       = 
| nickname       = 
| nationality    = Australian
| residence      = 
| birth_date     = {{birth date|1909|9|9|df=y}}<ref name=tf/>
| birth_place    = [[West Perth, Western Australia]]<ref name=bio1>[http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0154b.htm Norman, Decima (1909–1983)]. The Australian Women's Register</ref>
| death_date     = {{death date and age|1983|8|29|1909|9|9|df=y}}
| death_place    = [[Albany, Western Australia]]
| height         = 
| weight         = 
| website        = 
| country        = Australia
| sport          = [[Track and field athletics|Athletics]]
| event          = Sprint, hurdles, long jump
| collegeteam    = 
| club           = 
| team           = 
| turnedpro      = 
| coach          = Frank Preston<ref name=bio1/><ref name=bio2>[https://sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame-member/decima-hamilton/ Decima Hamilton]. Sport Australia Hall of Fame</ref>
| retired        = 1940
| coaching       = 
| worlds         = 
| regionals      = 
| nationals      = 
| olympics       = 
| paralympics    = 
| highestranking = 
| pb             = 100 m – 11.8 (1936)<br>200 m – 24.4 (1938)<br>80 mH – 11.8 (1939)<br>LJ – 5.80 m (1938)<ref name=tf>[http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=1962&Gender=W Decima Norman]. trackfield.brinkster.net</ref> 
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalCountry | {{AUS}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Commonwealth Games|British Empire Games]]}}
{{MedalGold  | [[1938 British Empire Games|1938 Sydney]] | 100 yards }}
{{MedalGold  | [[1938 British Empire Games|1938 Sydney]] | 220 yards }}
{{MedalGold  | [[1938 British Empire Games|1938 Sydney]] | 3×110/220 yd }}
{{MedalGold  | [[1938 British Empire Games|1938 Sydney]] | 4×110/220 yd }}
{{MedalGold  | [[1938 British Empire Games|1938 Sydney]] | Long jump }}
| show-medals    = 
}}

'''Clara Decima Hamilton''' ({{nee|'''Norman'''}}), [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] (9 September 1909 – 29 August 1983) was an Australian [[Track and field athletics|athlete]]. She was the only Australian woman who won five gold medals at the [[1938 British Empire Games]].<ref name=bio2/>

== Biography ==

Norman was born on 9 September 1909 in [[Tammin, Western Australia]]. Her parents died when she was young, and she was adopted by her brother and his wife, who lived in [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth]]. She participated in several sports at school, and was named champion athlete at [[Perth College, Western Australia|Perth College]] in 1923.<ref name="bio1" /><ref name="bio2" />

A lack of organised competition and training for female athletes in the 1920s saw Norman take up [[Field hockey|hockey]], although she continued to train herself in track and field athletics until 1932, when she was spotted by former professional athlete Frank Preston, who saw her potential and offered to train her.<ref name=bio1/>

Norman's improving times, and several victories in the WA state titles, prompted Preston to consider her to represent Australia in the [[1934 Empire Games]] to be held in London. However, to compete at the games, she needed to be a member of the Women's Amateur Athletic Association of Australia, and in turn a West Australian women's athletics club, none of which existed. Norman eventually managed to establish such a club and join the WAAAA, but too late for her to qualify for the 1934 Empire Games or even the [[1936 Summer Olympics]] in Berlin. The efforts of Norman and Preston paid off, as several women's athletics clubs formed in WA, resulting in the state sending a women's team for the first time to the 1937 National Athletics Championships in [[Melbourne]]. Norman's performance in Melbourne qualified her to compete in the [[1938 British Empire Games]], to be held in Sydney.<ref name=bio1/>

Norman was the first Australian to win a gold medal in Sydney, with an 11.1 second time in the 100-yard sprint. She followed this up with a win in the final leg of the 440-yard medley relay, an Empire record-breaking long jump, the 220-yard sprint, and the 660-yard relay. She established herself as the premier athlete of the event, Australia's first athletics 'golden girl'. Her record five gold medals in a single games was not equalled until 1990, when swimmer [[Hayley Lewis]] took five golds in [[1990 Commonwealth Games|Auckland]], and not beaten until [[Susie O'Neill]] won six golds in [[1998 Commonwealth Games|Kuala Lumpur]] in 1998. Norman remained in Sydney, to begin training for the next Olympics, however her further athletic ambitions were blunted, when the 1940 Olympics were cancelled due to [[World War II]]. She last competed (for New South Wales) at the 1940 National Championships in Perth.<ref name=bio1/>

After retiring, she married New Zealand [[rugby union]] player Eric Hamilton. She was made a [[Order of the British Empire|Member of the Order of the British Empire]] (MBE) in the [[1983 New Year Honours]],<ref>Australia list: {{London Gazette |issue=49213 |date=30 December 1982 |pages=43  |supp=y |nolink=yes}}</ref> and was the custodian of the [[Queen's Baton Relay|Commonwealth Games Baton]] in the same year, flying the Queen's Baton from London to the [[1982 Commonwealth Games]] in [[Brisbane, Queensland|Brisbane]]. She died of cancer in [[Albany, Western Australia]] on 29 August 1983.<ref name=bio1/> 
[[File:Decima Norman, Empire Games, Sydney, 1938 - photographer Sam Hood (5040584200).jpg|left|thumb|Decima Norman, Empire Games, Sydney, 1938]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Decima Norman}}
*[http://athletics.possumbility.com/athletes/athlete47.htm Clara 'Decima' Norman] at Australian Athletics Historical Results
*{{CGF profile}}

{{Footer Commonwealth Champions 100 metres Women}}
{{Footer Commonwealth Champions 200m Women}}
{{Footer Commonwealth Champions Long Jump Women}}
{{Footer Australia NC 100m Women}}
{{Footer New Zealand NC 200 m women}}
{{Footer New Zealand NC long jump women}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Decima}}
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:1983 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian female long jumpers]]
[[Category:Australian female sprinters]]
[[Category:Sportswomen from Western Australia]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1938 British Empire Games]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games athletes for Australia]]
[[Category:Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Western Australia]]
[[Category:People educated at Perth College (Western Australia)]]
[[Category:People from the Wheatbelt (Western Australia)]]
[[Category:Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Medallists at the 1938 British Empire Games]]
[[Category:Australian Athletics Championships winners]]
[[Category:New Zealand Athletics Championships winners]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian sportswomen]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics]]