Anthony William "Nick" Winter (25 August 1894 – 6 May 1955) was an Australian sportsman. He won the gold medal in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

in Paris, in the process setting a new world record. His medal-winning jump remained an Australian record until 1960.

Early life

Winter was born on 25 August 1894 in

Brocklesby, New South Wales Brocklesby is a town in the Riverina region of south west New South Wales, Australia. The town is in the Greater Hume Shire Council local government area, north-west of the regional centre of Albury. In the Brocklesby had a population of 238. ...

, the son of Sarah Ann (née Boyton) and Anthony Winter. His father was a fettler. He attended a local public school and subsequently worked as a labourer. In 1915, Winter enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He served in Egypt with the 7th Light Horse Regiment and in France with the

Australian Army Service Corps The Royal Australian Army Service Corps (RAASC) was a corps within the Australian Army. Formed on 1 July 1903, in the aftermath of the Federation of Australia, it was initially known as the Australian Army Service Corps (AASC) and subsumed the f ...

. He returned to Australia in June 1919 and from December 1920 worked as a fireman in Manly.

Sporting career

Winter was a member of several amateur athletics clubs in Sydney. In December 1919 he set a new Australian record for the triple jump of . He represented Australia at the

in Paris, winning the gold medal in the triple jump competition with a new world record of . The previous record had stood since 1911. Winter's record-breaking jump was set barefoot, as he had badly bruised his heels on a previous attempt. It was his third and last jump in the final, and came after he had fouled on the previous jump. His jump remained an Australian record until 1960. Winter was one of three gold medallists from Manly in 1924, along with Boy Charlton and

Dick Eve Richmond Cavill "Dick" Eve (19 March 1901 – 13 March 1970) was an Australian diver who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics. He won the gold medal in the plain high diving and finished fifth in the 3 metre springboard event. He was the firs ...

. His event was not widely contested in Australia at the time and was not yet included in the

Australian Athletics Championships The Australian Athletics Championships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in a range of athletics events. The championships are the primary qualification trial for athlet ...

. Winter returned at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

at the age of 33, but placed 12th in the

. In 1930, aged 35, he was the inaugural Australian triple jump champion, also finishing runner-up in 1932 in his last competition. Outside of the triple jump, Winter was a talented all-round sportsman, participating in

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

, cricket, tennis, golf, wrestling, and solo tug-of-war. He was a talented

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...

player and was the runner-up in the New South Wales state championships in 1927.

Later life

Winter left the fire service in 1927. He later ran a tobacconist's shop and managed billiards halls in George Street and

Pitt Street, Sydney Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sect ...

. According to ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', he was "well known in Canberra, having conducted a hairdressing saloon at Kingston for several years".

Death

Winter was found dead in the bathroom of his home in

Pagewood Pagewood is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 8 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. It is part of the Bayside Council. Pagewood has a mixture of residential and industrial areas. H ...

on 7 May 1955. It was reported that police believed he had a heart attack while attempting to light a gas water heater, and that "he died either from the heart attack or from gas poisoning". A coronial inquest found that he died of

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large e ...

and returned an

open verdict The open verdict is an option open to a coroner's jury at an inquest in the legal system of England and Wales. The verdict means the jury confirms the death is suspicious, but is unable to reach any other verdicts open to them. Mortality studies c ...

. His son regarded suicide as unlikely.

Honours

Winter was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

in 1986.

References

External links

ADB biographyAthletics Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Nick 1894 births 1955 deaths Australian male triple jumpers Olympic gold medalists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia World record setters in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Accidental deaths in New South Wales Deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning Australian firefighters Australian military personnel of World War I Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees People from the Riverina Sportsmen from New South Wales