Jean Roberts

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.

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.

Roberts was a versatile athlete, winning the 1967 Victorian State Pentathlon championship with 3985 points and placing second in 1969.

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. Her elder sister Val Roberts competed in gymnastics at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics.

Roberts won the discus throw at the Pacific Conference Games in 1969 at Tokyo and won the British WAAA Championships title in the shot put event at the 1971 WAAA Championships.

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.

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).