b'115584584584MEXICO CITY 1968 SUMMER OLYMPICS GOLD WINNERS MEDALThe Mexico Gold Medal awarded to Australias Maureen Caird for the 80m HURDLES,gilt silver, 60mm, 125gms, originally designed by Guiseppe Cassioli. The front inscribed XIX OLIMPIADA MEXICO 1968 and features a Seated Victory with the Colosseum in the background; the reverse depicts a victorious athlete with palm branch being carried on the shoulders of other athletes. A small plaque attached to the top bears a pictogram of an athletes foot in a spiked running shoe, with the reverse engraved Maureen Caird / 80 mts. con obstaculos.Accompanying the medal is the gold-medal winners diploma recording Cairds achievement and signed by Avery Brundage and Pedro Ramirez Vazquez; also, the extremely rare miniature version of the gold medal (with plaque) that the gold medal winner could wear as a lapel badge on appropriate occasions.Maureen Caird had the distinction of being the youngest-ever Olympic Track and Field Gold Medallist from any country, at the age of 17 years and 19 days. 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 80m 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 also competed in senior events, placing second in both the 80 metres and 100 metres hurdles behind Pam Kilborn who was rated as the worlds best female hurdler. Cairds performances earned her selection in the Australian team to compete at the 1968 Summer Olympics.At the Games, Caird, only 17 at the time, was the youngest member of the Australian team. Competition was very strong with defending champion Karin Balzer (East Germany) and World record holder Vera Korsakova, from the USSR. Soon to be superstar Chi Cheng from Taiwan was also in this race. Both Maureen and her rival, Pam Kilborn, made the final, which was held in wet conditions. To the surprise of most observers, Maureen crossed the line just .07secs ahead of her fellow Australian, in a new electronic world record time of 10.39. This win made Maureen Caird the youngest individual Olympic champion in athletics (at the time, that record was broken by Ulrike Meyfarth in 1972) and earned her the world number one ranking. Because this was the last time the 80m event was contested, Maureens Olympic record will stand forever.$20,00025,000'