Australian Swimming Legend Dawn Fraser Returning To Tokyo This Week
SYDNEY, Australia, October 8. Australian swimming legend Dawn Fraser is set to make a return visit to Japan this week, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Fraser won gold in the women’s 100m freestyle in three consecutive Olympics – 1956, 1960 and 1964 – and became the first female swimmer to three-peat in an event at the Olympic Games. Fraser became the first woman to break one minute in the 100m free, and later set an Olympic record of 59.5 in the final in Tokyo.
Her accomplishments in the pool in Tokyo were somewhat overshadowed, however, as she was arrested and later banned by Australian swimming for attempting to take a flag home from the Games as a souvenir. Fraser was one of the final torch bearers at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, carrying the Olympic torch in the stadium as one of the final legs of the relay.
Read more about Fraser’s return to Tokyo in the Japan Times article.