Melissa Hoskins (born 24 February 1991) is an Australian former

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most commo ...

. She topped the general classification in the 2012

Tour of Chongming Island The Tour of Chongming Island International Cycling Race is an annual elite women's road bicycle racing stage race held in Shanghai, China, named after Chongming Island. The Tour previously consisted of two races: a stage race and a one-day race ...

. She was a member of the Australian track cycling team pursuit team that finished in fourth place at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

. Hoskins announced her retirement from professional cycling on 2 May 2017.

Personal

Hoskins was born on 24 February 1991 in Kalamunda, Western Australia. She attended Walliston Primary School before going to high school at

Carmel Adventist College Carmel Adventist College is an Independent school, independent Seventh-day Adventist Church, Seventh-day Adventist Mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary school, secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school, located in ...

in Western Australia. She then went to Murdoch University Western Australia where she pursued a Bachelor of Sports Science. In February 2018 she married cyclist

Rohan Dennis Rohan Dennis (born 28 May 1990) is an Australian professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Dennis was born, raised, and resides in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. He won back to back UCI men's individual t ...

. She gave birth to a son at the end of that year. The family split their time between

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capital ...

La Massana La Massana (; originally ''La Maçana'') is one of the seven parishes of the Principality of Andorra. It is located in the northwest of the country. La Massana is also the name of the main town of the parish. The name Massana derives from the Lat ...

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Cycling career

Track

As a track cyclist, Hoskins specialised in endurance events. She started track cycling when she was fifteen years old following participation at a Western Australian Institute of Sport talent identification event. She started competitive cycling when she was sixteen years old. Her specialist event was the Team Pursuit. She was awarded a cycling scholarship by the Australian Institute of Sport and the Western Australian Institute of Sport. She is a member of Northern Districts Cycling Club. She was coached by

Gary Sutton Gary Sutton (born 27 March 1955) is a cycling coach and a former professional racing cyclist. In 1980, Sutton became the amateur World Champion in the Points Race. Sutton was born in Moree, New South Wales. He competed at the 1976 Summer Olym ...

and

Darryl Benson Darryl is an English name, a variant spelling of Darell. Male variations of this name include: Darlin, Daryl, Darrell, Darryl, Daryll, Darryll, Darrell, Darrel. Female and unisex variations of this name include: Daryl, Darian, Dareen, Darell ...

. Her primary training base was in Adelaide, with a secondary base in Verese, Italy. Hoskins finished 3rd in the team pursuit at the 2011 Beijing World Cup in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. She finished 1st in the team pursuit, 2nd in the omnium, and 3rd in the individual pursuit at the 2011 Australian Track Nationals in Sydney. She finished 2nd in the team pursuit at the 2012 Track World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. She finished 1st in the team pursuit and 4th in the individual pursuit at the 2012 Australian Track Nationals in Sydney, Australia. In the team pursuit event at the 2012 Summer Olympics Test Event in London, her team set the fastest time in the event on the opening day of the competition. She was the team's leader in the event but her gate failed to open properly. Her team eventually earned a gold in the event. She earned a silver medal in the scratch race at the 2012 World Championships. She competed for Australia with teammates

Annette Edmondson Annette Edmondson (born 12 December 1991) is an Australian former cyclist who competed on the track with Cycling Australia's High Performance Unit (HPU). She also competed on the road for the team between 2015 and 2018. Her greatest successes ...

and

Josephine Tomic Josephine Tomic (born 9 June 1989) is a former Australian track cycling, track cyclist. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Team Pursuit. Personal Nicknamed Josie, Tomic was born on 9 June 1989 in Subiaco, ...

in the women's team pursuit at the 2012 Summer Olympics. They finished in fourth place after losing to Canada in the bronze final. Hoskins competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. At the

2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championships for track cycling in 2015. They took place in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (part of the Paris Metropolitan Area) at the Vélodrome de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines from 18–22 ...

Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines () is a new town and an agglomeration community in the French department of Yvelines. It is one of the original five villes nouvelles (new towns) of Paris and was named after the Saint Quentin Pond, which was chosen to ...

, Hoskins was part of the Australian quartet that won gold in the

team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

, defeating a Great Britain team in the final that had taken the rainbow jersey in the previous four World Championships and that had been undefeated in major competitions during that period. They also broke the world record which had been set by the British in 2013 at altitude in

Aguascalientes City (''Virtue in the Water, Fidelity in the Heart'') , image_skyline = AGUASCALIENTES CITY.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: San Antonio de Padua Church, La Exedra (main square), Aguascal ...

by nearly three seconds. She subsequently described this performance as the defining result of her career. She returned to the Olympic Games as part of the Australian team in the team pursuit at the 2016 Summer Olympics: the team entered the Olympics as one of the expected challengers for the gold medal, however they suffered a setback three days before the start of competition when four of the team's five selected riders – Hoskins,

Ashlee Ankudinoff Ashlee Ankudinoff (born 20 August 1990) is an Australian professional racing cyclist. Biography Ankudinoff was born in Sydney, New South Wales. She began competitive cycling at the age of fifteen on the road. Ankudinoff was a member of the gol ...

, Amy Cure and

Georgia Baker Georgia Baker (born 21 September 1994) is an Australian professional Cycle sport, racing cyclist. She rode in the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's team pursuit, women's team pursuit at the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Champi ...

– crashed when training on the

Rio Olympic Velodrome The Rio Olympic Velodrome, officially the Velódromo Municipal do Rio (''Rio Municipal Velodrome''), is a velodrome located in the Barra Olympic Park sports complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Built as a replacement for the former Barra Velodr ...

. Although she avoided major injury, Hoskins was on crutches until the eve of the qualifying round. She rode in qualification and the first round proper but was dropped for the final, where Australia secured fifth overall.

Road

Hoskins also competed in road races and began racing professionally with the team in 2012, specialising in sprint finishes on the flat. She won the first and third stages and topped the general classification in the 2012

, a category 2.1 stage race, and followed this by finishing second in the one-day Tour of Chongming Island

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

Major results

Track

;2008 : 1st MaillotAustralia

Team pursuit, National Track Championships : 2nd Keirin, National Junior Track Championships ;2009 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Team pursuit,

UCI Juniors Track World Championships The UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships (named the UCI Juniors Track World Championships before 2016) are a set of world championship events for junior riders, for various disciplines and distances in track cycling and are regulated by t ...

: 1st

Team pursuit, National Track Championships : National Junior Track Championships ::1st MaillotAustralia

Keirin ::3rd Individual pursuit ::3rd Points race ;2010 : Oceania Track Championships ::1st OceaniaChampionJersey

Omnium ::3rd Bronze medal Oceania

Points race ;2011 : 3rd Bronze medal blank

Team pursuit, 2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Beijing ;2012 : 1st Gold medal blank

Scratch, 2011–12 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, London :

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 ...

::2nd

Scratch ::2nd Silver medal blank

Team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

: 2nd

Team pursuit,

2012–13 UCI Track Cycling World Cup The 2012–2013 UCI Track Cycling World Cup (also known as the 2012–2013 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, presented by Samsung for sponsorship reasons.) is a multi race tournament over a track cycling. It was the twenty-first series of the UCI Track ...

, Glasgow ;2013 : 2nd Silver medal blank

: 3rd

Team pursuit,

2013–14 UCI Track Cycling World Cup The 2013–2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup was a multi race tournament over a track cycling season. It was the twenty-second series of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The series ran from 1 November ...

, Aguascalientes ;

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: 2nd

Team pursuit,

2014–15 UCI Track Cycling World Cup The 2014–2015 UCI Track Cycling World Cup was a multi-race tournament over a track cycling season. It was the 23rd series of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The series ran from 8 November 2014 to 1 ...

, London : 3rd Bronze medal blank

;2015 : 1st Jersey rainbow

: 1st

Points race, National Track Championships

Road

;2009 : 1st MaillotAustralia

Criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time, ...

, National Junior Road Championships : 1st Pemberton Classic ;2010 : 2nd Noosa GP ;2011 : 1st Ronde van Appelscha : 1st Profronde van Surhuisterveen : 1st Wielerdag van Monster : 1st Begijnendijk : 1st Boutersem : 1st Stage 2

Tour de Feminin-O cenu Českého Švýcarska Tour de Feminin-O cenu Českého Švýcarska (Tour de Feminin – Krásná Lípa) is a women's staged cycle race which takes place in the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Euro ...

: 2nd Le Bizet : 2nd Wielerdag Zoeterwoude : 2nd Ronde van Leiderdorp : 3rd Ronde van Luyksgestel : 7th

GP Comune di Cornaredo The GP Comune di Cornaredo is an elite women's professional one-day road bicycle race held in Italy and is currently rated by the UCI as a 1.2 race. Past winners References Cycle races in Italy Women's road bicycle races Rec ...

;2012 : National Road Championships ::1st MaillotAustralia

Under-23 criterium ::2nd

: 1st Overall

::1st Points classification ::1st Stages 1 & 3 : 1st Overall Bay Classic Series : 1st Rond van Uitgeest : 2nd Silver medal blank

Team time trial,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

: 2nd

Tour of Chongming Island World Cup The Tour of Chongming Island International Cycling Race is an annual elite women's road bicycle racing stage race held in Shanghai, China, named after Chongming Island. The Tour previously consisted of two races: a stage race and a one-day race ...

: 6th

EPZ Omloop van Borsele Omloop van Borsele ("Circuit of Borsele") is an elite women's professional road bicycle race held annually since 2002 in Borsele, Netherlands. Since 2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa ...

;2013 : 1st Overall Bay Classic Series ::1st Williamstown Criterium : 3rd Bronze medal blank

Team time trial,

: 3rd Open de Suède Vårgårda TTT ;

: 2nd

Team time trial,

: 3rd

Ronde van Gelderland The Ronde van Gelderland ( en, Tour of Gelderland) was an elite women's road bicycle race held in the Netherlands between 2003 and 2016. It was rated by the UCI as a 1.2 category race, and was primarily centred around Apeldoorn Apeldoorn ( ...

: 5th

: 6th Overall

Ladies Tour of Qatar The Tour of Qatar was an annual professional cycling stage race held in Qatar. First organized in 2002, the event was part of the UCI Asia Tour until 2016. The 2017 edition was to have seen the event upgraded to the UCI World Tour for the firs ...

: 6th

Dwars door de Westhoek The GP Stad Roeselare is an elite women's road bicycle race held annually in Roeselare, Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordere ...

: 10th Road race,

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 ...

;2015 : 1st Jersey orange dots

Mountains classification

The Women's Tour The Women's Tour is a women's cycle stage race held in England and Wales, as part of the UCI Women's World Tour. The race is organised by SweetSpot, the company behind the men's Tour of Britain. History Its origins trace back to 2010 whe ...

: 2nd Overall Santos Women's Tour ::1st Stages 2 & 4

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoskins, Melissa Living people 1991 births Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Australian Institute of Sport cyclists Sportswomen from Western Australia Olympic cyclists of Australia Australian female cyclists Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian women