Harry Dale Kent (11 March 194724 August 2021) was a New Zealand

track cyclist 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 ...

. He was the first New Zealander to win a gold medal in cycling at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, as well as the first cyclist from the country to medal at the

UCI Track Cycling World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

Early life

Kent was born in

Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...

near

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

on 11 March 1947. He was of Waitaha descent, and his family lived in Upper Hutt from the time his grandfather settled there. His father, Huia Jim Kent, fought during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Career

At the

1970 British Commonwealth Games The 1970 British Commonwealth Games (Scottish Gaelic: Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis Bhreatainn 1970) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first tim ...

, Kent won the gold medal in the men's 1 km time trial, with his time of 1:08.69 establishing a new Commonwealth Games record. It was his country's first gold medal in cycling at the Commonwealth Games, and was one of two golds that New Zealand won at that year's Games (the other was by

Bruce Biddle Bruce William Biddle (born 2 November 1948 in Warkworth) is a former road racing cyclist from New Zealand, who was a professional rider from 1974 to 1979. He won the gold medal in the men's individual road race at the 1970 Commonwealth Games i ...

in the road race). He finished in fourth place in the sprint and sixth in the 10 mile scratch race. Although Kent won Match A in the semifinals of the former event, he lost the next two matches against Gordon Johnson, who at one point forced Kent up against the

guard rail Guard rail, guardrails, or protective guarding, in general, are a boundary feature and may be a means to prevent or deter access to dangerous or off-limits areas while allowing light and visibility in a greater way than a fence. Common shapes ...

s. Several weeks later, Kent competed at the

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. He secured silver in the men's 1 km time trial, narrowly missing out on gold to

Niels Fredborg Niels Christian Fredborg (born 28 October 1946) is a retired Danish track cyclist. He competed at the 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics in the sprint and 1 km time trial events, winning a silver, a gold and a bronze medal in the time t ...

by 0.4 seconds. This was New Zealand's first medal at the world track championships. In recognition of his achievements that year, Kent was named

New Zealand Sportsman of the Year The Halberg Awards are a set of awards, given annually since 1949, recognising New Zealand's top sporting achievements. They are named for New Zealand former middle-distance runner and Olympic gold medalist Murray Halberg, Sir Murray Halberg. The ...

, and was conferred the

Lonsdale Cup The Lonsdale Cup is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 2 miles and 56 yards (3,270 metres), and it is scheduled ...

. Kent competed at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

in the men's 1 km time trial but did not start in the men's sprint. He finished 16th in the former event with a time of 1:09.10.

Later life

After retiring from professional cycling, Kent returned to Upper Hutt and managed his family's garden nursery. He ran a fruit and vegetable market, named Trentham Village Market, and acquired the nickname of the "Flying Florist". Kent was elected to the city council and served for nine years during the 1970s and 1980s. He was one of the two guests of honour when the Wellington Velodrome was reopened in December 2003, together with

Sarah Ulmer Sarah Elizabeth Ulmer (born 14 March 1976) is a former Olympic cyclist. She is the first New Zealander to win an Olympic cycling gold medal, which she won in the 3km individual pursuit at the 2004 Athens Olympics setting a world record. Afte ...

. Kent ran again as city councillor in 2016, after engaging in a protracted legal dispute with the council over the commercial assessment of his business. He ultimately finished last among twenty candidates who were vying for ten seats. He was honoured by

Cycling New Zealand , abbrev = CNZ , logo = Cycling-NZ-Logo-Landscape.jpg , logosize = 200px , sport = Cycling , category = , image = , caption = , jurisdiction = New Zealand , membership = , founded = , aff = UCI , affdate = , region = OCC , regionyear = ...

that same year on its Wall of Fame at the Cambridge Avantidrome.

Personal life

Kent had four children: Heidi, Harry James Dale, Josephine and Michelle. Harry James helped his father manage Trentham Village Market. Kent spent his entire life in the suburb of Trentham in Upper Hutt. Kent died on 24 August 2021. He was 74, and was in poor health as a result of two strokes he suffered in the years leading up to his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Harry 1947 births 2021 deaths New Zealand male cyclists Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Cyclists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for New Zealand Sportspeople from Upper Hutt Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Waitaha (South Island iwi) Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games