Percy Francis Hobson (5 November 1942 – 4 January 2022) was an Australian high jumper. He won the men's event at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, making him the first Indigenous Australian to earn a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Percy Francis Hobson | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Australian | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 5 November 1942[1] Bourke, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 4 January 2022 (aged 79) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
| Event | High jump | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
editHobson was born on 5 November 1942 in Bourke, New South Wales, to Fanny Williams and Percy Hobson. Fanny was the daughter of a respected NSW Police Aboriginal tracker, Frank Williams, who was a Ngemba man.[3] One of ten children, Hobson was named Percy after his father and Francis after his grandfather and uncle who was killed on active service in Malaya around the time of his birth. His mother Fanny was from Brewarrina.[4] During his youth Hobson trained using a makeshift high-jump.[5]
Career
editIn 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
edit
Hobson died in Mooroolbark, Melbourne, Victoria, on 4 January 2022, at the age of 79.[3][8]
Legacy
editA 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
edit- ^ "Profile of Percy Hobson". Australian Commonwealth Games Association. Archived from the original on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
- ^ a b c "The "Boy of the Golden West" Wins High Jump at Perth Games" (PDF). Dawn. Aboriginal Protection Board: 1. January 1963.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Heather Mieni" (PDF). Aboriginal Women's Heritage: Bourke. Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW): 17. January 2005.
- ^ Thomson, Phil (13 March 2008). "Legendary Bourke". The Land. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Webster, Jim (25 November 1962). "Great start for Australian athletes". The Sun-Herald. John Fairfax and Sons. pp. 45, 61.
- ^ "Indigenous pioneer athlete Percy Hobson passes away". Commonwealth Games Australia. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ "Our Heroes". Girri Girri Sports Academy. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
- ^ "Percy Hobson mural gets funding". The Western Herald (Bourke, NSW). 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
- ^ "Bourke Water Tower Project". Paint Place. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.