Jackson, Marjorie

Marjorie Jackson, married name Marjorie Jackson-Nelson, (born September 13, 1931, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia), Australian athlete who won two Olympic gold medals and tied or set 13 world records. During the early 1950s, when Australians dominated women’s sprint events, Jackson was the most outstanding Australian sprinter.

Jackson, known as the “Lithgow Flash” after her hometown, was just 17 years old when she twice outran the great Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen. At the age of 19 she won three gold medals at the 1950 British Empire Games (now the Commonwealth Games) in Auckland, New Zealand. Competing at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, she tied the world record for the 100-metre sprint (11.5 seconds), winning the gold medal. Jackson won another gold medal in the 200 metres, setting a world record, and competed for the Australian 4 × 100-metre relay team that set a world record (46.1 seconds) in its first heat at Helsinki; the team led in the final race until a teammate accidentally knocked the baton from Jackson’s hand. Jackson also won gold medals in the 100- and 220-yard runs at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver.

In 1953 Jackson married Australian cyclist Peter Nelson. After his death in 1977, she established the Peter Nelson Leukemia Foundation. From 2001 to 2007 she served as governor of South Australia.