Jean Roberts

{{Short description|Australian shot putter and discus thrower (1943–2024)}}

{{about||the Scottish politician of the same name|Jean Roberts (politician)|persons of a similar-sounding name|Gene Roberts (disambiguation){{!}}Gene Roberts}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

|birth_name=Jean Evelyn Roberts

|birth_date={{birth date|df=y|1943|08|18}}

|birth_place=Geelong, Victoria, Australia

|death_date={{death date and age|df=y|2024|09|17|1943|08|18}}

|death_place=Canberra, Australia

|nationality=Australian

|sport=Athletics

|event=Discus throw, shot put

|pb=DT – 55.91 m (1974)
SP – 16.38 m (1972)[https://archive.today/20090203145151/http://www.athletics.com.au/community/statsdata/rankings/alltime All time performances]. Athletics Australia

|club=Coburg Harriers, Coburg
Birchfield Harriers, Birmingham
Delaware Sports Club, Delaware USA

|coach=John Cheffers(1958-1968), Wilf Paish(1971-1972)

| height = {{convert|1.70|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| weight = {{convert|69|kg|lb|abbr=on}}

|show-medals=yes

| medaltemplates=

{{Medal|Country | {{AUS}} }}

}}

Jean Evelyn Roberts (18 August 1943 – 17 September 2024) was an Australian Olympic athlete who competed in the shot put and discus throw events.

Biography

Roberts competed for the Coburg club, alongside athletes such as Raelene Boyle and Carolyn Lewis.[http://www.coburgharriers.org.au/joomla1/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_view/gid,315/Itemid,38/ List of international athletes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080722172041/http://www.coburgharriers.org.au/joomla1/component/option%2Ccom_docman/task%2Cdoc_view/gid%2C315/Itemid%2C38/ |date=22 July 2008 }}. Coburg Harriers. Retrieved on 19 June 2015.

Roberts won a total of 13 Australian Championships in Athletics between 1962 and 1970, including eight in the Shot Put. She also won two British Championships in the Shot Put in 1971 and 1972.[http://gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm List of UK National Champions]. GBRathletics. Retrieved on 19 June 2015.

Roberts was a versatile athlete, winning the 1967 Victorian State Pentathlon championship with 3985 points{{cite web |url=http://athsvic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/1967-Victorian-Womens-Championships.xls |title=1967 Victorian Women's Championships |website=athsvic.org.au |access-date=11 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311071232/http://athsvic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/1967-Victorian-Womens-Championships.xls |archive-date=11 March 2016 |url-status=dead}} and placing second in 1969.{{cite web |url=http://athsvic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/1969-Victorian-Womens-Championships.xls |title=1969 Victorian Women's Championships |website=athsvic.org.au |access-date=11 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311070733/http://athsvic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/1969-Victorian-Womens-Championships.xls |archive-date=11 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}

She competed at four Commonwealth Games between 1962 and 1974, winning medals on each occasion, and represented Australia at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.[https://archive.today/20071019230353/http://www.athletics.com.au/history/athletes/athlete92.htm Jean Roberts]. Athletics Australia Her elder sister Val Roberts competed in gymnastics at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics.[https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ro/jean-roberts-1.html Jean Roberts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619154913/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ro/jean-roberts-1.html |date=19 June 2015 }}. sports-reference.com

Roberts won the discus throw at the Pacific Conference Games in 1969 at Tokyo[http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/pcg.htm Pacific Conference Games medalists] Retrieved on 19 May 2016 and won the British WAAA Championships title in the shot put event at the 1971 WAAA Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001723/19710718/021/0021 |title=Women's AAA Results |work=Sunday Sun (Newcastle) |date=18 July 1971 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=7 March 2025 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=7 March 2025}}

Roberts also won the 1973 and 1975 American Athletic Union championships in the discus.

Roberts received her Doctorate of Education from Temple University in the mid 1970s and then coached and taught at the University of New Hampshire.

She coached thrower Gael Martin to two gold medals at the 1986 Commonwealth Games.

She was the first Director of Coaching for the Australian Athletic Union from 1979 -1985. She was appointed an administrator at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in 1985 and worked there until 2001. Whilst at the AIS, she managed the Olympic Training Centre Programs in the lead up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics for athletes, coaches and sports medicine practitioners from Oceania and ten African countries.Australian Athletic Union News No 12, May 1980Olympic Training Centres. 1998 Report. Australian Olympic CommitteeOceania National Olympic Committees. Annual Report 2000{{Cite web |last=Australia |first=Athletics |title=Vale Dr Jean Evelyn Roberts |url=https://www.athletics.com.au/news/vale-dr-jean-evelyn-roberts |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=www.athletics.com.au |language=en}}

Roberts career was recognised through several awards - Australian Olympic Committee Order of Merit (1996), Oceania Athletics’ Merit Award (1997) and the Australian Sports Medal (2000).

Roberts died in Canberra on 17 September 2024, at the age of 81.{{cite web |title=Athletics Australia acknowledges the long service to the sport of athletics in Australia and the Pacific of its first National Coaching Director, Jean Roberts who passed away yesterday on September 17, 2024. |url=https://x.com/AthsAust/status/1836286475840934398 |website=Athletics Australia on X |access-date=23 September 2024 |date=18 September 2024}}{{cite web |title=In Loving Memory of Jean Roberts |url=https://wtdennisson.wordpress.com/2024/09/20/in-loving-memory-of-jean-roberts/ |website=W. T. Dennis & Son |date=20 September 2024 |access-date=23 September 2024}}{{cite news |title=Vale Dr. Jean Evelyn Roberts |url=https://www.athletics.com.au/news/vale-dr-jean-evelyn-roberts |access-date=28 September 2024 |publisher=Athletics Australia |date=26 September 2024}}