Maureen Caird (born 29 September 1951) is an Australian former track athlete, who specialised in the sprint hurdles. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, she became the youngest-ever individual Olympic athletics champion at the time, at age 17, when she won gold in Mexico City.
Early career
Born in Cumberland, New South Wales, Caird began competing in athletics as a teenager, trained by the former coach of quadruple Olympic champion Betty Cuthbert, June Ferguson.
Caird competed in several events, but the 80 m hurdles was her best. In 1967 she won both the junior (under 18) 80 metre hurdles and pentathlon at the Australian Championships.
In the 1968 Championships, she defended her junior hurdles crown and also won the Long Jump.
Caird's performances earned her selection in the Australian team to compete at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
International career
At the Games, Caird, only 17 at the time, was the youngest member of the Australian team. Her competition in the 80m hurdles included defending champion Karin Balzer (East Germany), world record holder (10.2 hand timed) Vera Korsakova from the USSR and future world record holder in multiple events, Chi Cheng from Taiwan. Both Caird and Kilborn made the final, which was held in wet conditions. To the surprise of most observers, Caird crossed the line just .07secs ahead of Kilborn, in a new electronic world record time of 10.39.
Personal life
Caird, now married as Maureen Jones, currently lives in Australia. In 2000, she received an Australian Sports Medal.