Celeste Donovan – Councillor for Coastal
A wonderful evening tonight and good turnout for the New Brighton Museum AGM. It was good to celebrate the work of the committee and volunteers who successfully raised money for the purchase of the building, which is a huge achievement. One of the other highlights was listening to the inspirational story of Marise Chamberlain.
Marise is a local South Brighton girl, a former New Zealand middle-distance runner and is the only New Zealand woman to win an Olympic medal in track athletics.
She shared her story of overcoming countless obstacles to train in all weathers and conditions, and to represent the sport of athletics on the international stage. This is even more impressive, for doing this all in an era when few women were competing in international track events.
It might be hard to believe now, but women were first allowed to compete in track and field at the Olympics in 1928, and even then they were only allowed to race limited distances, because of the view that women shouldn’t compete in certain events. A lot has changed since then, but right up until the 1980s, there were no women’s long-distance races in the Olympics.
Marise, demonstrating her grit and determination pushed through those barriers to succeed despite all the odds against her. Winning a bronze medal at the Olympics she also set several world records over 440 yards, 400 meters and 1 mile. In 2003, Chamberlain was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to athletics. Chamberlain was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
Marise paved the way, not only as a pioneer in middle distance running but also as a role model for all of those in the sport that came after her.
Congratulation to the Museum committee, for successfully fundraising to buy and restore this historic building which is the keeper of these stories.
Together, with the community, a team of tireless volunteers and support from funders, they are creating a space that we can all come together, learn about our history, and hear inspiring stories from legends such as Marise