
Be first in line for Olympic champion's biography
Ralph Doubell holds a special place in Australian athletics as one of just three men to have won Olympic Gold on the athletics track.
Ralph – a University of Melbourne graduate and long-time Melbourne University Athletics Club member – set a world record in the men's 800 metre final at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. It was a stunning run, acclaimed by Sir Roger Bannister (the first man to run a mile in under four minutes) as "the finest tactical run I have ever seen." Ralph's time remained Australia's 800 metre national record for nearly 50 years, only bettered in July this year.
Ralph's story is now told in a new biography by Michael Sharp, titled Ralph Doubell: Do Not Worry, It Is Only Pain. It recounts his student and international racing career (which began on the University of Melbourne athletics track under the tutelage of famed coach and Austrian emigré Franz Stampfl), followed by a long career in business in Australia and overseas.
Ralph Doubell: Do Not Worry, It Is Only Pain is essential reading for aspiring track athletes, for anyone seeking the elusive 'winning edge' that set Doubell apart, and for all with fold memories of a golden era in Australian sport.
Thanks to Stoke Hill Press, we have a copy of Ralph Doubell: Do Not Worry, It Is Only Pain to give away to one lucky Melbourne Alumni e-News reader. For your chance to win, simply answer the following question here by close of business on Wednesday 28 November.
Q: What is the name of the device University researchers have created to cure paediatric pneumonia?