Percy Francis Hobson (5 November 1942 – 4 January 2022) was an Australian

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er. He won the men's event at the

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. The ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, making him the first

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

to earn a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

Early life

Hobson was born on 5 November 1942 in Bourke,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, to Fanny Williams and Percy Hobson. Fanny was the daughter of a respected

NSW Police The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

Aboriginal tracker Aboriginal trackers were enlisted by Europeans in the years following British colonisation of Australia, to assist them in exploring the Australian landscape. The excellent tracking skills of these Aboriginal Australians were advantageous to set ...

, Frank Williams, who was a Ngemba man. One of ten children, Hobson was named Percy after his father and Francis after his grandfather and uncle who was killed on active service in Malaya around the time of his birth. His mother Fanny was from

Brewarrina Brewarrina (pronounced 'bree-warren-ah'; locally known as "Bre") is a town in north-west New South Wales, Australia on the banks of the Barwon River in Brewarrina Shire. The name Brewarrina is derived from 'burru waranha', a Weilwan name for a s ...

. During his youth Hobson trained using a makeshift high-jump.

Career

In November 1961, Percy Hobson broke the NSW resident high-jump record with a leap of . In March 1962, at 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 athlete ...

, Hobson won the high jump event with a jump of , defeating

Tony Sneazwell Anthony Howard Sneazwell (4 October 1942 —) is an Australian former high jumper who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics and in the 1968 Summer Olympics. He was also the team dentist of the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL from 1988 until he retired ...

on a countback. Eight months later at the

, Hobson, aged 20 years, won gold in the

clearing the bar at , setting a new Commonwealth Games record. In doing so, he became the first Indigenous Australian to win a gold medal for Australia at the Commonwealth Games. Hobson received a hero's welcome when he returned to Bourke and the local brass band played " Hail, the Conquering Hero".

Death

Hobson died in Mooroolbark, Melbourne,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, on 4 January 2022, at the age of 79.

Legacy

A local park in Bourke was later renamed Percy Hobson Park in his honour. A small standing exhibit on Hobson is at Bourke's The Back 'O Bourke Exhibition Centre. On the park's water tower, a mural project was commenced prior to July 2020 to raise funds to paint a mural on the tower, supported by Hobson's sisters Freda Harvey and Heather Mieni. With the base coats applied, the mural started in April 2021, a re-creation of an iconic photo of the moment Hobson earned his first gold medal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobson, Percy 1942 births 2022 deaths People from Bourke, New South Wales Australian male high jumpers Indigenous Australian track and field athletes Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Sportsmen from New South Wales