Corlett (nee Williams), NZ’s first female Olympic gold medallist, was also considered a champion for women’s sport and athletics. GETTY IMAGES Yvette Corlett leaped to long jump gold at the 1950 Empire Games in Auckland - remarkably, her first international competition. "The fact that it took someone 40 years after her to win a gold medal shows how incredible her achievement was." Yvette Corlett Collection Corlett on the top step of the Olympics medal dais, with silver medallist, Russian Aleksandra Chudina, and Britain's Shirley Cawley winning bronze. Two years later Corlett set a long jump world record of 6.29m in Gisborne.

Source: Stuff April 15, 2019 02:03 UTC