Commonwealth Games Gold and Bronze medallist

Renowned not only for her speed, but her determination, Brenda’s achievements nonetheless ensured she left a lasting legacy in Australian athletics.

Her abilities were obvious from childhood, growing up in regional North Queensland. In 1954, at the age of 10, Brenda broke the Queensland record in the 50-yard sprint.

`In 1957, my father (a bank manager) requested a transfer to Brisbane specifically to nurture my athletics and to educate the four Cox kids,’’ Brenda would later remember. `Although I had been booked into St Margaret’s, my cousin, Christine Tranberg, was going for a preliminary interview at Girls Grammar, so I tagged along and was accepted forthwith. It was during this time my athletics career took off.’

At 14, Brenda set new state records for the 75, 100 and 220-yard races and was selected to represent Queensland as both a sprinter and hurdler at the national championships.

`I will always remember the excitement of travelling to Sydney and meeting Betty Cuthbert, fresh from her three Olympic Gold Medals in Melbourne in 1956. What an inspiration—so talented and modest.’ (Little could Brenda have dreamed that four years later she would run with her hero to win Gold in a relay event at the Commonwealth Games in Perth.)

During her time at BGGS, Brenda became the first student to win the Trustees Cup for Champion Athlete in every year of her schooling.

In 1961, her final year at Girls Grammar, Brenda broke the Australian Junior record for the 100-yard dash, running the distance in 10.5 seconds. (The 100-yard distance was a Commonwealth Games event up until 1970, when it was replaced by the 100m).

After high school Brenda attended Kedron Park Teachers College but continued to pursue her athletic ambitions.

The high point of her sprint career was at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games, as it was then known, held in Perth in 1962 where she won Gold with the women’s 4 x 100 yards relay team, running alongside Joyce Bennett, Glenys Beasley and the legendary Betty Cuthbert. She also took Bronze in the Women’s 100 yards, finishing behind Great Britain’s Dorothy Hyman and New Zealand’s Doreen Porter.

Off the track, the Games brought a lifetime highlight too, with Brenda was chosen to represent the Australian team at a lunch in the Games Village with the Duke of Edinburgh.

`What an interesting and charming person he was,’ she later said.

She seemed destined for even greater heights, but Brenda was in training for the 1964 Olympic Games trials when she tore her quadricep, an injury which ended her competitive athletic career at just 19.

Instead of sprinting, she threw herself into other sporting pursuits, excelling at hockey and badminton. It was through badminton that Brenda met Ken Laidlaw, who she married in 1971, with their union produced her truly proudest moments.

`The ultimate was becoming a mother in 1973, 1974 and 1977,’ she said.

After raising a family, Brenda returned to study, completing a Bachelor of Arts at The University of Queensland in 1989, before teaching primary school. She passed away at the age of 72 in 2016 after being diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2010.