Ann Morton Edwin Carr ‘Old Gold’

This portrait by Ann Morton of former athlete Edwin Carr was a finalist in the Daily Telegraph Sporting Portrait Prize, held in conjunction with the Archibald Prize 2000.

Morton has devoted her working life exclusively to oil painting. She spent her childhood in country Australia where she came under the guidance of several leading Australian artists. She was previously hung in the 1994 Archibald Prize with a self-portrait.

Morton wasn’t going to enter the Sporting Portrait Prize because she didn’t think she knew any sports people. When she discovered that Edwin Carr, whom she had always known as a surgeon, was a one-time Olympian, 'it all fell into place’.

Carr represented Australia in athletics at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki and also won two golds at the Auckland Empire Games in 1950. 'He’s come a long way since his Olympic days and some of that determination is shown in his face,’ says Morton. 'I’ve painted him on the track like that as if it’s going back in time.’