Gael Martin

Gael Martin

Personal information
Full name	Gael Patricia Mulhall-Martin
Nationality	Australia
Born	27 August 1956 Melbourne, Victoria[1]
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	98 kg (216 lb)
Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Shot put
Medal record Women's Athletics Competitor for  Australia Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles Shot put Commonwealth Games 1978 Edmonton Shot Put 1986 Edinburgh Shot Put 1986 Edinburgh Discus 1978 Edmonton Discus 1982 Brisbane Shot Put 1982 Brisbane Discus

Gael Martin

Medal record
Competitor for Australia
Women's Powerlifting
World Games
	1981 IPF Women's World Powerlifting Championships	+82.5 kg
	1983 IPF Women's World Powerlifting Championships	90 kg
	1988 IPF Women's World Powerlifting Championships	+90 kg

Gael Patricia Mulhall-Martin (born 27 August 1956) is a former Australian athlete who competed in the shot put and in the discus throw at the Olympic level and also had a career in powerlifting.

Athletics

Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Mulhall-Martin is daughter of footballer Ken Mulhall, an Australian rules footballer with the St Kilda Football Club.^[2]

She won the bronze medal in women's shot put at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United States,^[1] becoming the first Australian (male or female) to win an Olympic medal in a throwing event.

Mulhall also competed in four successive Commonwealth Games events from 1974, winning double gold in Shot Put and Discus at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.

Coached by Franz Stampfl, she won a total of 20 senior Australian national championships in her career.^[3]

At the 1981 Pan Pacific Conference Games she was tested positive for the use of anabolic steroids and received an 18-month ban.^[4]

Powerlifting

Gael Martin represented Australia in the Women's World Powerlifting Championships in 1981, 1983 and 1988. In 1987, Martin received a grant from the ACT Talented Athletes Development Awards program. The higher level grant, which Martin received, was awarded to applicants with international ranking and the support of their sporting organization.^[5]

Footnotes

1. "Gael Mulhall-Martin". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
2. VFL Statistics: Ken Mulhall; "Cleared by Tribunal", The Age, (Wednesday, 29 July, 1953), p.12
3. Athletics Australia Profile
4. "Drugs blitz on coaches.". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 9 October 1987. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
5. "Athletes sign 'no drugs' declaration.". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 9 December 1987. Retrieved 21 April 2014.

References

• Farber, M., "Drugs hurt career of Aussie woman", The (Montreal) Gazette, (Monday, 4 October 1982), p.F-5.
• Goodwin, D., "Gael's firm — 'I'm not a drug taker' ", (Sydney) Sun Herald, (Sunday, 16 August 1981), p.17.
• Mitchell, N. and McMahon, P., "Mulhall may take life ban to court", The Age, (Wednesday, 15 July, 1981), p.36.
• Nolan, D., "Gael is hoping to throw for gold", The Australian Women's Weekly, (Wednesday, 21 March 1979), p.29.
• Webster, J., "Mulhall to start her comeback on Saturday", The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday, 28 July 1982), p.40.
• 1973 photograph of Mulhall with Ray Rigby at an athletic meeting.