Gael's Story
Gael Martin was one of Australia’s leading field athletes for more than a decade, competing in both shot put and discus. The Melbourne-born athlete won more than 60 state and national titles during her career and established several long-standing records. She made her Olympic debut at Moscow 1980, aged 23, placing 12th in the shot put with 18 metres and 15th in the discus with 54.90 metres. At Los Angeles 1984, Martin produced a shot put of 19.19 metres to claim the bronze medal. The performance made her the first Australian man or woman to win an Olympic medal in a throwing event.
She also reached the discus final, placing eighth with a throw of 55.88 metres. Martin also competed at four successive Commonwealth Games from 1974 to 1986. She won shot put gold and discus silver at Edmonton 1978, followed by silver medals in both events at Brisbane 1982. She completed her Commonwealth Games career at Edinburgh 1986 by winning gold in both the shot put and discus.
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