Percy Hobson (high jumper)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Percy Hobson
Personal information
Full namePercy Francis Hobson
NationalityAustralian
Born(1942-11-05)5 November 1942
Athletics
EventHigh jump
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Australia
British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1962 Perth High jump

Percy Francis Hobson (5 November 1942 – 4 January 2022) was an Australian

Indigenous Australian
to earn a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

Early life

Hobson was born on 5 November 1942 in

Brewarrina.[4] During his youth Hobson trained using a makeshift high-jump.[5]

Career

In November 1961, Percy Hobson broke the NSW resident high-jump record with a leap of 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m). In March 1962, at the Australian Athletics Championships, Hobson won the high jump event with a jump of 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), defeating Tony Sneazwell on a countback.[2] Eight months later at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Hobson, aged 20 years, won gold in the high jump clearing the bar at 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m),[6] setting a new Commonwealth Games record.[7] In doing so, he became the first Indigenous Australian to win a gold medal for Australia at the Commonwealth Games. Hobson received a hero's welcome when he returned to Bourke and the local brass band played "Hail, the Conquering Hero".[2]

Death

A mural of Hobson in Bourke, 2021

Hobson died in

Victoria, on 4 January 2022, at the age of 79.[3][8]

Legacy

A local park in Bourke was later renamed Percy Hobson Park in his honour.[9]

A small standing exhibit on Hobson is at Bourke's The Back 'O Bourke Exhibition Centre.

On the park's water tower, a mural project was commenced prior to July 2020 to raise funds to paint a mural on the tower, supported by Hobson's sisters Freda Harvey and Heather Mieni.[10] With the base coats applied, the mural started in April 2021, a re-creation of an iconic photo of the moment Hobson earned his first gold medal.[11]

References

  1. Australian Commonwealth Games Association. Archived from the original
    on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "The "Boy of the Golden West" Wins High Jump at Perth Games" (PDF). Dawn. Aboriginal Protection Board: 1. January 1963.
  3. ^ a b Austin, Madeline (6 January 2022). "Commonwealth Games gold medallist, pioneering Indigenous athlete Percy Hobson dies aged 79". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  4. Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW): 17
    . January 2005.
  5. ^ Thomson, Phil (13 March 2008). "Legendary Bourke". The Land. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  6. ^ "Results of the men's high jump at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games". CGF. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  7. ^ Webster, Jim (25 November 1962). "Great start for Australian athletes". The Sun-Herald. John Fairfax and Sons. pp. 45, 61.
  8. ^ "Indigenous pioneer athlete Percy Hobson passes away". Commonwealth Games Australia. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Our Heroes". Girri Girri Sports Academy. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  10. ^ "Percy Hobson mural gets funding". The Western Herald (Bourke, NSW). 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Bourke Water Tower Project". Paint Place. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Percy_Hobson_(high_jumper)&oldid=1194525584"