Shirley Barber

Aucklander Shirley Somervell ran extremely well at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, and 44 years later watched her daughter win a Commonwealth Games medal.

Somervell, born in 1946, ran in the 800m in Christchurch, and then helped form a scratch New Zealand 4 x 400m relay team that also ran impressively.

In the 800m, Somervell was 2nd in her heat in 2min 04.6s, an exceptional time in that era. That advanced her to the semi-final, where she was 3rd in 2min 5.2s. In the final, she finished 7th in 2min 5.8s. Also in that final were countrywomen Lorraine Moller and Sue Haden.

In the 4 x 400m relay, Somerville was lead runner, followed by Sue Gukilau, Lorraine Tong and Penny Hunt. Their time of 3min 37.5s earned them a 5th placing.

Somervell had hoped to get to the 1976 Montreal Olympics, but was ruled out by injury.

However, she remained interested in athletics and took up race walking with some success. She encouraged her daughter Alana Barber, who became a leading race walker. Barber competed at the 2016 Olympics at Rio de Janeiro and won a silver medal in the 20km walk in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

As Alana Barber explained when she competed at Rio: “My mum is my idol and really pushed me to reach this level. To be able to do something she never quite achieved is a really nice feeling.”