Terri Anne Cater OAM (née Wangman; born 25 September 1956) is an Australian former sprinter and middle-distance runner. She was Australian women's 400 metres champion in 1981 and 800 metres champion in 1981 and 1982.[1]
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Birth name | Terri Anne Wangman | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Australian | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 25 September 1956 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Police officer | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Commonwealth Games
editCater competed at two Commonwealth Games: the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand where she won a silver medal as part of the women's 4 × 400 metres relay team. Eight years later, she competed in the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia where she placed 4th in the final of the women's 800 metres.[2]
1976 Olympic selection
editIn March 1976, Cater (as Terri Wangman) was selected for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, however there was subsequent controversy as she was selected over Barbara Wilson of Queensland, who ranked 4th in Australian athletic rankings compared to Wangman's 19th. Queensland MP Des Frawley raised the issue in the Queensland Parliament, asserting that the selection panel was "dominated by Victorians" whose "rotten, unprincipled actions" would deprive Australia of a certain medal win in Montreal.[3] Selector Paul Jenes responded that the selected athlete would have to cover both relay events (4 × 100 and 4 × 400), and that Wangman as the 400 metre specialist would have a better chance than Wilson.[4] In April, the men's and women's head selectors met with the Australian Olympic Federation justification committee, where they acknowledged they should have ranked the relay teams rather than individual runners, and Wilson was added to the Olympic team. This lowered Wangman's chances of competing by half, and she did not end up competing in Montreal.[5]
Personal life
editOutside of her athletics career, Cater was a police officer with Victoria Police.[6]
References
edit- ^ "Australian Track & Field Championships 1980–81". Australian Athletics Historical Results. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
- ^ "Terri Anne Cater". Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
- ^ "Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)" (PDF). Queensland Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
- ^ "Rotten, says Queensland". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 March 1976. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
- ^ Capp, Al (6 April 1976). "Oversight caused Olympic mixup". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ "ATHLETICS Cater aims at fast race". The Canberra Times. Vol. 56, no. 16, 918. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 22 January 1982. p. 18. Retrieved 12 June 2018 – via National Library of Australia.