Shirley Strickland (de la Hunty) died on 6 February 2004 in Perth, Western Australia, aged 78.
Shirley Strickland, later known as Shirley de la Hunty, died on 6 February 2004 in Perth, Western Australia, at the age of 78, after a battle with cancer.
Her death prompted widespread tributes across Australia, recognising her as one of the greatest athletes the nation had ever produced. She was remembered not only for her seven Olympic medals — three of them gold — but for her later contributions to sports administration, education, and environmental activism in Western Australia.
Her legacy endures through the Shirley Strickland Reserve and various sporting honours named after her, as well as her enduring place in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and the IAAF (World Athletics) Hall of Fame. She remains a symbol of excellence and perseverance for Australian women in sport, and her scientific background as a physicist added a rare dimension to her public legacy as an athlete-intellectual.