Doris Carter

Who was Doris Carter?

Doris Jessie Carter OBE was an Australian athlete who specialised in the high jump. She was the first Australian female track and field athlete to make an Olympic Games final.

Carter placed 6th in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and also competed in the 1938 British Empire Games in Sydney.

She won five National Championships at high jump and two at discus throw in her career.

Following her competitive career, Doris Carter became involved in the administration of women's athletics both at State and National levels. She was President of the Victorian Womens Amateur Athletic Association from 1945 to 1948. Carter also served twice as President of the Australian Women's Amateur Athletic Union, firstly in 1948 and again between 1952 and 1962.

In 1956 Carter was the Assistant Manager to the Australian Olympic Team during the Melbourne Olympic Games.

Carter was also prominent with the Women's Air Force during the war years of 1939 to 1945. She was honoured to co-lead the Anzac Day Parade at Melbourne in the mid-1990s.