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Russell MockridgeRussell Mockridge (1928 - 13 September 1958), nicknamed the Geelong Flyer, was a racing cyclist from Geelong, Victoria, Australia whose life was tragically ended during a race, in a collision with a bus in 1958. Born in Melbourne in 1928, his cycling career started in 1946 by winning his first race of 40km with the Geelong Amateur Cycling Club. His reputation continued to grow and he became widely described as "Australias greatest all-round cyclist for all time". Due to his upper class accent he was initially dubbed Little Lord Fountleroy, however his race wins soon eaned him the nickname of The Geelong Flyer. He participated in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London but two punctures ruined his performance in the road race, and his team were eliminated in the quarter finals of the 4000 metres team pursuit. He represented Australia at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland. He took Gold in both the 1000 metre sprint and the 1000 metre time trial, and a Silver in the 4000 metre individual pursuit. In Paris in July 1952 he won the Amateur Grand Prix and the following day won the Open Grand Prix (beating the world professional champion, Reg Harris), becoming the first rider to win both the amateur and professional divisions of the Paris Sprints. The humiliation to the proffessionals resulted in the rules of the race being changed and amateurs be barred for many years. His selection for the 1952 Summer Olympics Australian team was in doubt as he refused to sign the Australian Olympic Federations fidelity bond, which demanded he remain amateur for at least two years after the Games. In the end, another great Australian cyclist, Hubert Opperman, or Oppy as he was known, (then Federal parliamentarian for Geelong), negotiated the bond being reduced to one year. At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki he went on to win two gold medals for Australia, in the tandem event with Lionel Cox, and in the 4000 metre time trial. A year after the games he turned proffessional and raced with much success and critical acclaim on the European and Australian circuits. Mockridge was one of the 60 riders out of 150 entrants to cross the line in Paris of the 1955 Tour de France. In 1958 at the age of 30 participating in the 225km Tour of Gippsland he was killed by a bus in Melbourne at the Dandenong Rd / Clayton Rd intersection just 2.1 miles from the start of the race. External Links Mockridge, Russell Mockridge, Russell
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