Christchurch runner Marise Chamberlain, the only New Zealand woman to have won an Olympic track medal, has died aged 88.
Chamberlain won a bronze medal in the 800m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and set world records over distances from 440 yards to the mile.
She also won a Commonwealth Games silver medal in the 880 yards in Perth in 1962. All up she also won 17 national titles.
Born and raised the second eldest of four children in the Christchurch suburb of South Brighton in 1935, Chamberlain showed her athletic potential from a young age.
A primary school sprint champion she secured her first Canterbury title over 220yd aged 15. She also competed for a year for the Crichton Cobbers club but quit athletics aged 16.
Three weeks before her 18th birthday, a work colleague started training with Technical Athletic Club.
“I thought, well if she is going to run, then I am too,” she told Steve Landells in an article for Athletics New Zealand.
A profile on the NZOC website said: "At a time when athletes were expected to pay their way everywhere, Chamberlain went to a masseur three times a week and paid for that, which took a big chunk out of her typist's pay."
Chamberlain said she was incredibly nervous throughout her time in Tokyo.
"Once the heats began I felt a bit better. I finished second, just behind the Frenchwoman, Dupureur, and we qualified easily."
"In the semi-final, I ran very well. Dr Grigor, our team doctor, let me ring (my coach) Valdy (Briedis) back in Christchurch each night as a reward for running so well.
"Talking to Valdy was reassuring. But even so, I had a terrible night before the final. I must have run that race 20 times in my head. I wouldn't be surprised if I never had a moment of sleep all night.
"I felt really bad in the warm-up before the final. I'd never felt so weak. The more people said 'good luck', the weaker I felt.
"On the starting line I was in lane seven, between the two Brits, Ann Packer and Anne Smith. All their supporters were just across the track cheering for them. It was very intimidating," she said.
"When the race began I found myself near the back and then the German, Antje Gleichfeld, elbowed me really hard. I almost fell off the track, and would have, but for a pair of hands behind me catching me and pushing me back.
"I could never describe how happy I felt afterwards. I wanted so much to be able to stand on that dais at an Olympics.
"When I stepped up, I thought about all those years of sweat and grime and dirt, the terrible conditions, my parents holding meals for me for all those years, all the help I'd got from so many people ... I burst into tears, and cried and cried."
Chamberlain's 800m national record set on a grass track in 1962 stood for 34 years.
She was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit eight years later.
