Russell Mockridge

Australian cyclist (1928–1958)

Russell Mockridge

Russell Mockridge (left) and Hubert Opperman arrive in Sydney from Melbourne in 1948

Personal information
Full name| Edward Russell Mockridge
Born| (1928-07-18)18 July 1928
Melbourne, Australia
Died| 13 September 1958(1958-09-13) (aged 30)
Melbourne, Australia
Team information
Discipline| Track & Road
Role| Rider

Medal record

Representing  Australia
Men's track cycling
Olympic Games
|  1952 Helsinki | 1000 m time trial
|  1952 Helsinki  | 2000 m tandem
British Empire Games
| 1950 Auckland | Sprint
| 1950 Auckland | 1000 m time trial
| 1950 Auckland | Pursuit

Edward Russell Mockridge (18 July 1928 – 13 September 1958) was a racing cyclist from Geelong, Victoria, Australia. He died during a race, in collision with a bus.

## Family

[edit]

The son of Robert Glover Mockridge and Aileen Claire Mockridge, née Riley,[1] Edward Russell Mockridge (known as Russell) was born in Melbourne on 18 July 1928.[2] Mockridge married Irene Pritchard (-2004), widely known as "Rene",[3] in London, in 1953;[4] they had a daughter, Melinda, who was born in Ghent, Belgium in December 1954.[5]

## Career

[edit]

Mockridge started in 1946 by winning his first race of 40 km with Geelong Amateur Cycling Club. For his upper-class accent he was dubbed Little Lord Fauntleroy, but his wins soon earned him the nickname of The Geelong Flyer.[6] He became described as 'Australia's greatest all-round cyclist for all time'.[7]

His ride in the 1948 Summer Olympics road race in London was ruined by two punctures and his team was eliminated in the quarter-final of the 4000 m team pursuit. He represented Australia at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland. He took gold in the 1000 m sprint and the 1000m time trial, and silver in the 4000 m pursuit.

In Paris in July 1952 he won the Amateur Grand Prix and the following day the Open Grand Prix, beating world professional champion Reg Harris, becoming first to win both amateur and professional Paris Sprints. His humiliation of the professionals led to amateur riders being barred for many years. Later that year, he won Manchester Wheelers' Club Muratti Cup again beating Reg Harris.

Selection for the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki was in doubt as he refused to sign the Australian Olympic Federation fidelity bond, which demanded he remain amateur for two years after the Games. A great former cyclist, Hubert Opperman, then Federal parliamentarian for Geelong, negotiated a one-year reduction. Mockridge won gold medals in the tandem event with Lionel Cox, and in the 1000 m time trial.[8] He turned professional a year later with success in Europe and Australia. He teamed with Sid Patterson and Reginald Arnold to win the Paris six-day race in 1955. Mockridge was one of 60 of 150 entrants to finish the 1955 Tour de France. He won 12 consecutive Australian championships. He won the Australian national road race title in 1956, 1957 and 1958.[9]

## Death

[edit]

In 1958, aged 30, he was killed by a bus in Melbourne at the Dandenong Rd and Clayton Rd intersection, two miles from the start of the 225 km Tour of Gippsland race.[10][11][12]

## Recognition

[edit]

* In 2015, he was an inaugural Cycling Australia Hall of Fame inductee.[13]

## See also

[edit]

* Cycling in Geelong

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Marriages: Mockridge—Riley, The Argus,(Saturday, 5 December 1925), p.13.
2. ^ Births: Mockridge, The Argus, (Thursday, 9 August 1928), p.1.
3. ^ Deaths: Mockridge, The Age, (Monday, 15 September 1958), p.12.
4. ^ Olympic Cyclist Weds, The (Launceston) Examiner, (Tuesday, 6 October 1953), p.16.
5. ^ This is home, Bubs, The Argus, (Saturday, 3 December 1955), p.48.
6. ^ "The Geelong Flier", Queens News & Updates, Queen's College, The University of Melbourne.
7. ^ Meeking, M. (15 September 1958) "Russell Mockridge Was Our Greatest Cyclist". The Age, p. 17.
8. ^ "Russell Mockridge Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
9. ^ "Russell Mockridge". Cycling Archives. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
10. ^ "Russell Mockridge Killed in Road Race", The Age, 15 September 1958, p.3.
11. ^ Mockridge Killed In Collision With Bus, The Canberra Times, (Monday, 15 September 1958), p.10.
12. ^ There was a court case: see Taylor, Jim, "How it Feels to Be Hit by a Bus", The Age, Wednesday, 19 January 2005.
13. ^ "Inaugural Cycling Australia Hall of Fame inductees". Cycling Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2015.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Russell Mockridge.

* "Russell Mockridge". Canberra Bicycle Museum. Archived from the original on 18 December 2005.
* "Mockridge, Edward Russell (1928–1958)" \- Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian National University
* Official Tour de France results for Russell Mockridge
* "How it feels to be hit by a bus" \- a detailed account of the accident which killed Russell Mockridge - newspaper article, The Age (19 Jan 2005)

* v
* t
* e

Olympic cycling champions in men's track time trial

Summary

* 1896:  Paul Masson (FRA)
* 1928:  Willy Hansen (DEN)
* 1932:  Edgar Gray (AUS)
* 1936:  Arie van Vliet (DEN)
* 1948:  Jacques Dupont (FRA)
* 1952:  Russell Mockridge (AUS)
* 1956:  Leandro Faggin (ITA)
* 1960:  Sante Gaiardoni (ITA)
* 1964:  Patrick Sercu (BEL)
* 1968:  Pierre Trentin (FRA)
* 1972:  Niels Fredborg (DEN)
* 1976:  Klaus-Jürgen Grünke (GDR)
* 1980:  Lothar Thoms (GDR)
* 1984:  Fredy Schmidtke (FRG)
* 1988:  Aleksandr Kirichenko (URS)
* 1992:  José Manuel Moreno (ESP)
* 1996:  Florian Rousseau (FRA)
* 2000:  Jason Queally (GBR)
* 2004:  Chris Hoy (GBR)

* v
* t
* e

Olympic Cycling Champions in Men's Tandem

* 1906:
* 1908:  Auffray, Schilles (FRA)
* 1920:  Lance, Ryan (GBR)
* 1924:  Choury, Cugnot (FRA)
* 1928:  Van Dijk, Leene (NED)
* 1932:  Chaillot, Perrin (FRA)
* 1936:  Ihbe, Lorenz (GER)
* 1948:  Perona, Teruzzi (ITA)
* 1952:  Cox, Mockridge (AUS)
* 1956:  Browne, Marchant (AUS)
* 1960:  Beghetto, Bianchetto (ITA)
* 1964:  Damiano, Bianchetto (ITA)
* 1968:  Morelon, Trentin (FRA)
* 1972:  Semenets, Tselovalnikov (URS)

* v
* t
* e

Australian National Road Race Champions (men)

1900–1919|

* Andrew Ralston, NZ (1901)
* HG O'Callaghan (1902)
* Jack Arnst, NZ (1903)
* Tom Larcombe (1904)
* William Hawley (1905)
* H Mehrtens, NZ (1906)
* Tom Larcombe (1907)
* M Chappell (1908)
* Iddo Munro (1909)
* Joe Pianto (1910)
* Phil O'Shea, NZ (1911)

1920–1939|

* Phil O'Shea, NZ (1922–1923)
* Hubert Opperman (1924)
* Harold Smith (1925)
* Hubert Opperman (1926–1927)
* Hubert Opperman (1929)
* Richard Lamb (1930)
* Matt Lynch (1931)
* Richard Lamb (1932)
* Hefty Stuart (1933)
* Clinton Beasley (1935)
* Alan Angus (1936–1937)
* Dean Toseland (1938–1939)

1940–1959|

* Max Rowley (1946)
* Jack Bates (1947)
* Duncan Hunter (1948)
* Max Rowley (1949)
* Keith Rowley (1950)
* John Beasley (1951)
* Neil Peadon (1952)
* Alby Saunders (1953)
* Eddie Smith (1954–1955)
* Russell Mockridge (1956–1958)
* Fred Roche (1959)

1960–1979|

* Fred Roche (1960)
* Neville Veale (1961)
* John O'Sullivan (1962)
* Warwick Dalton (1963)
* Barry Waddell (1964)
* Matt Martino (1965)
* Kerry Hoole (1966)
* Graeme Gilmore (1967)
* Barry Waddell (1968)
* Robert Whetters (1969)
* Graham McVilly (1970–1971)
* Kevin Spencer (1972)
* Kerry Hoole (1973)
* Graham Rowley (1974)
* Donald Wilson (1975)
* Peter Besanko (1976)
* Donald Wilson (1977)
* John Trevorrow (1978–1979)

1980–1999|

* John Trevorrow (1980)
* Clyde Sefton (1981)
* Wayne Hildred (1982)
* Terry Hammond (1983)
* Peter Besanko (1984)
* Laurie Venn (1985)
* Wayne Hildred (1986)
* Allan Dipple (1987)
* Paul Miller (1988)
* Gary Clively (1989)
* Damian McDonald (1990)
* Neil Stephens (1991)
* David McFarlane (1992)
* Edward Salas (1993)
* Neil Stephens (1994)
* Robbie McEwen (1995)
* Nick Gates (1996)
* Jonathan Hall (1997)
* David McKenzie (1998)
* Henk Vogels (1999)

2000–2019|

* Jamie Drew (2000)
* Steve Williams (2001)
* Robbie McEwen (2002)
* Stuart O'Grady (2003)
* Matthew Wilson (2004)
* Robbie McEwen (2005)
* Russell Van Hout (2006)
* Darren Lapthorne (2007)
* Matthew Lloyd (2008)
* Peter McDonald (2009)
* Travis Meyer (2010)
* Jack Bobridge (2011)
* Simon Gerrans (2012)
* Luke Durbridge (2013)
* Simon Gerrans (2014)
* Heinrich Haussler (2015)
* Jack Bobridge (2016)
* Miles Scotson (2017)
* Alex Edmondson (2018)
* Michael Freiberg (2019)

2020–2039|

* Cameron Meyer (2020–2021)
* Luke Plapp (2022–2024)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

People|

* Trove
* Australia

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template