Russell Mockridge

Edward Russell Mockridge (18 July 1928 – 13 September 1958) was a racing cyclist from Geelong, Victoria, Australia. He died during a race, in collision with a bus.

Family

The son of Robert Glover Mockridge and Aileen Claire Mockridge, née Riley,<ref>Marriages: Mockridge—Riley, The Argus,(Saturday, 5 December 1925), p.13.</ref> Edward Russell Mockridge (known as Russell) was born in Melbourne on 18 July 1928.<ref>Births: Mockridge, The Argus, (Thursday, 9 August 1928), p.1.</ref> Mockridge married Irene Pritchard (-2004), widely known as "Rene",<ref>Deaths: Mockridge, The Age, (Monday, 15 September 1958), p.12.</ref> in London, in 1953;<ref>Olympic Cyclist Weds, The (Launceston) Examiner, (Tuesday, 6 October 1953), p.16.</ref> they had a daughter, Melinda, who was born in Ghent, Belgium in December 1954.<ref>This is home, Bubs, The Argus, (Saturday, 3 December 1955), p.48.</ref>

Career

Mockridge started in 1946 by winning his first race of 40 km with Geelong Amateur Cycling Club. For his upper-class accent he was dubbed Little Lord Fauntleroy, but his wins soon earned him the nickname of The Geelong Flyer.<ref>"The Geelong Flier", Queens News & Updates, Queen's College, The University of Melbourne.</ref> He became described as 'Australia's greatest all-round cyclist for all time'.<ref>Meeking, M. (15 September 1958) "Russell Mockridge Was Our Greatest Cyclist". The Age, p. 17.</ref>

His ride in the 1948 Summer Olympics road race in London was ruined by two punctures and his team was eliminated in the quarter-final of the 4000 m team pursuit. He represented Australia at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland. He took gold in the 1000 m sprint and the 1000m time trial, and silver in the 4000 m pursuit.

In Paris in July 1952 he won the Amateur Grand Prix and the following day the Open Grand Prix, beating world professional champion Reg Harris, becoming first to win both amateur and professional Paris Sprints. His humiliation of the professionals led to amateur riders being barred for many years. Later that year, he won Manchester Wheelers' Club Muratti Cup again beating Reg Harris.

Selection for the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki was in doubt as he refused to sign the Australian Olympic Federation fidelity bond, which demanded he remain amateur for two years after the Games. A great former cyclist, Hubert Opperman, then Federal parliamentarian for Geelong, negotiated a one-year reduction. Mockridge won gold medals in the tandem event with Lionel Cox, and in the 1000 m time trial.<ref name="sports-reference">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He turned professional a year later with success in Europe and Australia. He teamed with Sid Patterson and Reginald Arnold to win the Paris six-day race in 1955. Mockridge was one of 60 of 150 entrants to finish the 1955 Tour de France. He won 12 consecutive Australian championships. He won the Australian national road race title in 1956, 1957 and 1958.<ref name="CyclingArchives">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Death

In 1958, aged 30, he was killed by a bus in Melbourne at the Dandenong Rd and Clayton Rd intersection, two miles from the start of the 225 km Tour of Gippsland race.<ref>"Russell Mockridge Killed in Road Race", The Age, 15 September 1958, p.3.</ref><ref>Mockridge Killed In Collision With Bus, The Canberra Times, (Monday, 15 September 1958), p.10.</ref><ref>There was a court case: see Taylor, Jim, "How it Feels to Be Hit by a Bus", The Age, Wednesday, 19 January 2005.</ref>

Recognition

• In 2015, he was an inaugural Cycling Australia Hall of Fame inductee.<ref name=inugural>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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See also

• Cycling in Geelong

External links

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• "Mockridge, Edward Russell (1928–1958)" - Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian National University
• Official Tour de France results for Russell Mockridge
• "How it feels to be hit by a bus" - a detailed account of the accident which killed Russell Mockridge - newspaper article, The Age (19 Jan 2005)