James Dudley Achurch (21 January 1928 – 5 November 2015)James Achurch's obituary
/ref> was an Australian javelin thrower who competed in the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

. He won the gold medal in the men's javelin throw event at the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fi ...

in Vancouver, Canada. Achurch discovered his talent while growing up on a farm in New South Wales and throwing rocks and

rabbits Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit specie ...

. His father later sold the farm and purchased a tennis center, where James learned to play the game as well. Over the years, Achurch worked in multiple professions, including running a

passionfruit ''Passiflora edulis,'' commonly known as passion fruit, is a vine species of passion flower native to southern Brazil through Paraguay and northern Argentina. It is cultivated commercially in tropical and subtropical areas for its sweet, seedy f ...

and pineapple farm, as well as a

carriage A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping an ...

builder, a house painter, and a wardsman, plus running maintenance contracts for Nambour General Hospital.

References

1928 births 2015 deaths Sportsmen from New South Wales Australian male javelin throwers Olympic athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Australian Athletics Championships winners {{Australia-athletics-bio-stub