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Australian sprint legend Betty Cuthbert has died at the age of 79.
The four-time Olympic gold medallist passed away at her home in Western Australia on Sunday after a long battle with multiple sclerosis.
Born in 1938, Cuthbert shot to fame as the original golden girl of Australian sport.
At the age of 18, she was one of the stars of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, winning three gold medals and setting a record of 11.4 seconds in the 100m.
After taking out the 400m at the Tokyo Olympics eight years later, Cuthbert went on to carry the torch at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games.
To date, she is still the only Olympian to have won gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m races.
Many have taken to Twitter to pay their respects, with fellow track star Melissa Breen tributing Cuthbert as a “pioneer for Aussie female sprinters” and a “legend of the sport.”
This article originally appeared on New Idea.
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