How Dawn Fraser turned tragedy into triumph, winning gold at Tokyo after the death of her mother
She’s an Olympic legend who overcame a broken neck sustained in a car crash that took the life of her mother to win gold. Read Dawn Fraser’s powerful message for our modern day stars struggling with the postponement of the 2020 games.
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Dawn Fraser has opened up about the darkest time in her life in the hope that it will provide some light to Australia’s grief-stricken Olympians following the postponement of Tokyo.
In retelling the tragic death of her mother in the lead up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Fraser’s heartfelt message to today’s Olympians is don’t let the COVID-19 pandemic ruin your dreams.
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“The most important thing is to stay focused,” she said.
“Even though we’re 12 months out from the Games, they’ve got to be prepared to forget that they have been cancelled this year.
“The positive thing is to get it in their minds that they have another year up their sleeves to get themselves better.”
Australia’s original golden girl, Fraser won the 100 metres freestyle at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics when she was a teenager then retained her title at Rome in 1960.
Unbeaten in years, she was the overwhelming favourite to make her third individual gold in a row – a feat that no swimmer had achieved before and only two (Michael Phelps and Krisztina Egerszegi) have done since – after breaking her own world record at the Australian Olympic trials in February 1964.
A month later, Fraser took her mother Rose out for a surprise, unaware of how that night would change her life forever.
“We were at the leagues club, where they presented my mum with an air ticket to Tokyo to watch me swim,” Fraser said.
“Then I was driving the car to take my sister home to Brighton-Le-Sands and unfortunately we had a car accident and my mum was killed.”
Fraser, pulled unconscious from the wreck, fractured her neck in the crash.
She spent six weeks with her neck in plaster, on dry land with no possibility of swimming.
Depressed and heartbroken at losing her mother, Fraser had just about given up on the idea of competing at the Tokyo Olympics when she was told that an American teenager Sharon Stouder was closing in on her record.
That was enough motivation to get Fraser back into training and refocused on her goal.
She was 27 when she got to Japan – 12 years older than Stouder, but the Californian never really stood a chance as Fraser accelerated away from her over the last half lap.
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“I had something in reserve,” Fraser said.
“She was my main rival but I went and watched her work out at training and I picked out her weaknesses that I used against her in the final.
“Tokyo was very special for me because it was for my mum and not for me.
“I had broken my neck, I was a collar for six weeks, I wasn’t allowed to dive into the water, I wasn’t allowed to do any exercise or anything like that.
“I was concerned but if you go there prepared to do your best, and thinking you can do your best, then you can do your best.”
‘THAT’S A GIFT FROM THE EMPEROR, KEEP IT’
OF all the mementos Dawn Fraser collected during her fabulous career, the one she cherishes the most is the same one that landed her in hot water.
It is part of Australian sporting folklore that our national living treasure was arrested during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics for pinching a flag from the Imperial Palace after a boozy night with teammates.
That same flag has been taken away from her on two separate occasions but each time she’s got it back and it remains in her family to this day, passed down to her daughter for keepsake.
The only swimmer to win the 100 metres freestyle gold medal at three Olympics, Fraser’s high-powered admirers loved her as much for her rebellious spirit as her athletic ability and the first person who gave it back was the Emperor of Japan himself.
After celebrating with members of the hockey team after they won a bronze, Fraser, a team doctor, and another person she won’t dob in because they never came forward, managed to get two flags from the palace grounds before the alarm was raised and they split.
“I shoved one of the flags up my jumper and got away and I was sitting in a pub waiting for the others when two policemen tapped me on the shoulder,” she said.
“They told me to go back to my hotel but when I stood up the string from the flag fell out from under my jumper so they arrested me and took me to Marunouchi Police Station.
“The sergeant asked for my name but didn’t believe me when I said ‘Dawn Fraser, Australia’.
“He said ‘no, no, she would not do this’, but I showed him my ID.”
The cops let Fraser go without pressing charges but that wasn’t the end of the matter. Far from it.
The following day, she heard a knock on her door at her hotel room and opened it to see six policemen standing there with flowers and a box.
“When I opened the box, there was the flag and they told me ‘that’s a gift from the Emperor. Keep it.”
Fraser was given the honour of carrying the Australian flag at the Closing Ceremony in Tokyo but her troubles were only just beginning.
The Australian Swimming Union took a dim view of her actions and banned her for 10 years, which was later reduced just before the 1968 Olympics, but too late for our original golden girl to resume her career.
She vowed never to part with the flag but years later, she briefly lost it again.
Advertising guru John Singleton, organised a fundraising night where he persuaded his good friend to put the Olympic flag up for auction, promising he would buy it himself and give it back to her.
“He said he would go up to $50,000 if he had to but the bidding went over that and someone else bought it,” Fraser said.
“My daughter was in tears saying ‘Singo, you said my mum would never lose that flag”, but then someone came over and stuck it on the table, and said ‘here, stop your crying, it’s yours.’
“It wasn’t until the next day that I found out who the mystery buyer was because he didn’t want people to know.
“But it was KP, Kerry Packer. He was always so good to me.”
Originally published as How Dawn Fraser turned tragedy into triumph, winning gold at Tokyo after the death of her mother