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Robert de Castella MBE
1983 Award
World Champion Marathon Runner
'Deek' combines a strong physique and a character that is a rare blend of competitiveness and tranquillity. Fearing a possible hereditary heart problem, he ran over 200 kilometres per week and competed while on a low-fat, low-salt diet which excluded red meat, eggs and cheese. In 1979 de Castella won the Victorian Championship and the Australian title. He then won the 1981 Fukoaka marathon in Japan, the 1982 Commonwealth Games marathon and, in 1983, the Rotterdam marathon and the World Championships in Helsinki, becoming Australia's first world champion in this sport. In 1986 he again won the Commonwealth title, and the Boston marathon. De Castella retired in 1993, his only regret that he had never won Olympic gold.
He attributes a large share of his success to his wife, runner Gaylene Clews. De Castella was director of the Australian Institute of Sport, 1990-95. Concerned that elite sporting programs were not changing society's attitudes to health and fitness, he resigned to become executive director of Focus On You, a new company focussing on corporate and community health and fitness.
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