The Universiade has primed generations of athletes for success at world and Olympic levels - and in the case of Australian middle distance runner Ralph Doubell there was a short, sharp and perfect progression.

Doubell was born in Melbourne and studied at the city's university, where he came under the tutelage of Austrian-born coach Franz Stampfl, who had helped Roger Bannister to achieve the first sub-four minute mile in 1954.

The 1967 Summer Universiade in Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium provided the then 22-year-old Doubell with his first international championship test.

He passed with flying green and gold colours, winning the men's 800 metres title in a Universiade record of 1min 46.7sec.

Credited with the same time in silver medal position was West Germany's European record holder Franz-Josef Kemper, who had run 1:44.9 in 1966 shortly before winning silver at the European Championships in Budapest.

Kemper's compatriot Bodo Tummler, who had finished one place behind Kemper in the 1966 European Championships 800m, adding bronze to the gold he won in the 1500m, finished third in 1:47.8, one place ahead of Britain's Dave Cropper, who clocked 1:48.5.

If the standard of competition for the fledgling international was high in Tokyo, it was higher still a year later at the Mexico Olympics.

Doubell nearly failed to make an appearance because Achilles tendon injuries prevented him from competing in the six months before the Games got underway.

But the Australian recovered just in time, and reached the final, where despite being last early in the first lap he moved up to pass the 1964 Olympic bronze medallist and favourite Wilson Kiprugut halfway down the finishing straight, although the Kenyan tracked him all the way to the line.

Doubell crossed in 1min 44.3sec (1:44.40 in electric timing) to equal the hand-timed world record set in 1963 by New Zealand's Peter Snell.

Four years later at the Munich Olympics Dave Wottle of the United States equalled the record in winning 800m gold.

Sadly Doubell was unable to defend his title in Munich, having been forced to retire because of a series of calf injuries.