David Barry Vivian Walsh, , better known as Charlie Walsh, is an Australian former racing cyclist, cycling coach and academic.

Racing career

Walsh's placings in Australian Amateur and then Professional Championships were : 1st place - once 2nd place - twice 3rd place - four times 4th place - fourteen times. In South Australian State Championships he was placed first more than 70 times from sprint events to 125-mile road events, and toppled or set in excess of 25 State records. Walsh won more than 1,000 events in 25 years of racing at national and state level, including the

Austral Wheel Race The Austral Wheel Race is the oldest track bicycle race in the world still existing, stretching back to 1887. It is owned and run by AusCycling Victoria. The Austral race is Australia’s greatest track cycling event. It is held in Melbourne, ...

in 1969 on a 50yd handicap, and the Melbourne Cup on Wheels.

Coaching career

From 1985 Walsh was a cycling coach with

Michael Turtur Michael Colin Turtur (born 2 July 1958 in Adelaide, South Australia) is a former track cyclist and Olympic gold medallist in the 4000m Team Pursuit at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, with team members Dean Woods, Kevin Nichols and Micha ...

at the South Australian Sports Institute until about 1987. He was the National Coaching Director for the

Australian Cycling Federation Cycling Australia (CA), the trading name of the Australian Cycling Federation Inc, was the national governing body for bicycle racing in Australia, and represented the interests of affiliated cycling clubs and State federations. It covered the d ...

from 1980 developing and writing Level I & II books and writing the draft of the Level III book for coaching courses, and conducting coaching courses throughout Australia from 1979 to about 1985. He was the overall Head Cycling Coach of both track & road cycling at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

from 1987 to 2001 when he oversaw Australia's rise in world

track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

to number one in 1993 and 1994. "Charlie" was Olympic Cycling Coach at six Olympic Games, fifteen Senior World Cycling Championships, five Commonwealth Games and two Goodwill Games. Over his career as coach, Australia won two Olympic gold medals, nine silver, nine bronze and ten world titles. He coached

Michael Grenda Michael Ronald Grenda, OAM (born 24 April 1962) is a retired road bicycle and track cyclist from Australia, who represented his native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. There he won the gold medal in the men's 40 ...

Dean Woods Dean Anthony Woods OAM (22 June 1966 – 3 March 2022) was an Australian racing cyclist from Wangaratta in Victoria known for his track cycling at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games. On Australia Day 1985 he was awarded the Order of A ...

, and

Kevin Nichols Kevin John Nichols (born 4 July 1955 in Grafton, New South Wales) is a former track cyclist and Olympic gold medallist. His daughter, Kate Nichols, is a road racing cyclist.1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. 1981. Gained a National Commissaires Diploma in Melbourne, Australia. 1981. Gained an F.I.A.C./U.C.I./Olympic Solidarity Committee, International Cycling Coaches Diploma in New Zealand. 1982. Gained an F.I.A.C./U.C.I. International Cycling Coaches Diploma in East Germany. 1985. At the request of the International Olympic Solidarity Committee and U.C.I., he lectured at the International Coaches' Course in New Zealand. 1988,1990 & 1991. Lectured at the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Australian Elite Coaches Seminars conducted by the Australian Olympic Committee, Australian Coaching Council, Australian Sports Commission, the Australian Institute of Sport and was awarded Certificates of Appreciation and Participation. 1989 & 1992. Lectured at the International Coaches' Course in U.S.A. for International Olympic Solidarity and U.S.A. Cycling Federation. 1994. Lectured at the 1994 International Coaching School / National Coaches Seminar in Canada for all sports. 2000+. Developed and conducted International Coaching Courses in Switzerland and other countries for U.C.I. & International Olympic Solidarity. INTERNATIONAL CYCLING CONSULTANT 1990. He was one of four persons appointed by the Federation of International Amateur Cycling to be responsible for Coaching Development throughout the world. 1991. He attended the World Conference on Cycling in the Netherlands in the capacity of Coaching Consultant for Coaching Development. 1992. He attended the World Conference on Cycling in England in the above capacity. 1992. He attended the World Cycling Seminar in Paris as a consultant for planning of Pro/Am Cycling in the Olympics and future planning for World Track Cycling. Walsh developed and conducted International Coaching Courses in Switzerland and other countries for the International Cycling Union and International Olympic Solidarity.

Academic career

Walsh was a Senior Lecturer in

Technical and Further Education Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...

at Kintore Avenue, Adelaide, then at Regency Park College until April 1985, specialising and writing a book on

interferometry Interferometry is a technique which uses the ''interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber opt ...

. During this time he was seconded to the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

and helped construct an interferometer at an Australian Research Establishment which was the first in the world to measure black holes in space.

Awards and Retirement

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

1987 Walsh received an

Order of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) for service to cycling as national coaching director. Three years later in 1990 he was awarded the status of World Coach by the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

. He has won nine awards as Australian Coach of the Year for all sports, and was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

on 14 July 2000. From 2004 to 2011, Walsh assisted Adelaide coach Neil Craig with fitness and rehab. with the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

team, the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

. In 2015, he was an inaugural Cycling Australia Hall of Fame inductee.

References

* Olympic Solidarity Report, p. 35 www.olympic.org/Documents/Reports/EN/en_report_983 * World Cycling Centre 2002–2005 page 1. * www.runireland.com/contributors/padraig-marrey * https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230817/http://www.seychelles.net/seynat/sports/10280504.html

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Charlie Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Olympic coaches for Australia Australian cycling coaches Australian Institute of Sport coaches Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees