Decima Norman

Who was Decima Norman?

Decima Norman, MBE was an Australian athlete, who won five gold medals at the 1938 British Empire Games.

Born Clara Decima Norman in Tammin, Western Australia, Decima's parents died when she was young, and she was adopted by her brother and his wife, who lived in Perth. She participated in several sports at school, and was named champion athlete at Perth College in 1923.

A lack of organised competition and training for female athletes in the 1920s saw Norman take up hockey, although she continued to train herself in track and field athletics until 1932, when she was spotted by former professional athlete Frank Preston, who saw her potential and offered to train her.

Norman's improving times, and several victories in the WA state titles, prompted Preston to consider her to represent Australia in the 1934 Empire Games to be held in London. However, to compete at the games, she needed to be a member of the Women's Amateur Athletic Association of Australia, and in turn a West Australian women's athletics club, none of which existed. Norman eventually managed to establish such a club and join the WAAAA, but too late for her to qualify for the 1934 Empire Games or even the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. The efforts of Norman and Preston paid off, as several women's athletics clubs formed in WA, resulting in the state sending a women's team for the first time to the 1937 National Athletics Championships in Melbourne. Norman's performance in Melbourne qualified her to compete in the 1938 British Empire Games, to be held in Sydney.