Herb Elliot (Herbert James Elliott), born 1938, is something of a living legend in Australia. A famous athlete, a business man, and a social figure. In the 1958 Commonwealth Games he set the world record for running a mile: 3 minutes and 54 seconds. In the 1960 Olympic Games he won the Gold Medal for the 1500 metres. Go Australia!
Personal triumphs:
Carried the Olympic Torch at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Sydney Olympics into the stadium for the final segment before the lighting of the Olympic Flame.
Ranked in Western Australia's 100 most influential people.
Biography: "The Golden Mile".
He carried the torch of peace to the MCG when Pope John Paul II visited Melbourne in 1986.
In the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 1964, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). In the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 2002, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).
This statue of Herb is located in the Burswood Park Heritage Trail, adjacent to the Burswood Casino, in Perth City. The statue depicts Mr Elliot carrying a torch in conjunction with another Australian athlete Shirley Strickland. These dual statues are part of the "Olympians Walkway". Herb is depicted larger than life-sized, maybe 1.5x, wearing running gear, and leaping skyward. The statue is in bronze. At the base of the statues is a badly faded, near illegible, plaque.
from the artist website:
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visit link)
Artists Concept
'KEEPING THE FLAME ALIGHT'
COMMEMORATIVE OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY SCULPTURE
Burswood Park - Perth - Western Australia
This sculpture identifies and specifically celebrates the most important and key element in the passage of the Olympic Flame through the community. The essence of this concept is the transference of the Flame from person to person.
The drama of this unique moment is captured symbolically through the medium of two figures: one male, one female coming together in a dynamic celebration of the Olympic Spirit as expressed by the passing on of the flame.
These over-lifesize bronze figures are highly accurate portraits of Herb Elliot and Shirley Strickland. They are sculpted and cast in lost wax silicon bronze to the same exacting standards of detail and realism as our existing sculptures already in place on the Heritage Trail. We would like to emphasise that as artists, we have a particular ability to capture likenesses in bronze and thus have been abeled to guarantee a true and realistic representation of Herb Elliot and Shirley Strickland, captured for ever in the prime of their vigor.
It is important to note that the existing Heritage Trail is not a simple Historical "Walk" celebrating the far past. It should be seen as a living, growing, reflection of the best our community has to offer. The characters populating the trail are essentially 'Cultural Icons' recognised for their contributions to those processes which make a society truly civilized.
Herb Elliot and Shirley Strickland fall well within this definition, their 'Olympian' achievements going far beyond sport itself. We believe our sculpture depicts these great Olympians symbolically passing the Olympic Flame qualifies as a worthy public work of art on all levels. Visually dynamic and arresting in form it also captures and encapsulates the highest of noble ideals as expressed in the spirit of the Olympic Flame
Joan Walsh-Smith
Charles Smith
2001