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About Robert De Castella
Robert de Castella is the only Australian runner to have placed in the top 10 marathon finishers at three straight Olympics. He dominated the world marathon scene throughout the 80's and was voted the world's best marathon runner for that decade.
Although he never won an Olympic medal, he finished in the top ten on three of his four attempts. "Deek" combines a strong physique and a character that is a rare blend of competitiveness and tranquillity that has earned him a revered place in the history of Australian sport. An Australian cross-country champion at 22, Rob took up marathon running in 1979.
In 1979 he won the Victorian Championship and the Australian title. He then won the 1981 Fukuoka marathon in Japan, the 1982 Commonwealth Games marathon and, in 1983, the Rotterdam marathon and the World Championships in Helsinki, becoming Australia's first world champion in this sport. In 1986 he again won the Commonwealth title, and the Boston marathon.
In 1982, Rob was voted Australian of the Year and honoured with an MBE. Robert De Castella retired in 1993 after the 1993 Boston Marathon. Following his retirement Rod spent 5 years as the Director of the Australian Institute of Sport in the early 1990s and was heavily involved in establishing the elite sports system being used today by our Olympic athletes and teams.
Concerned that elite sporting programs were not changing society's attitudes to health and fitness, he resigned to become executive director of a new company focussing on corporate and community health and fitness.
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