Born in the NSW town of Bourke, Percy Hobson (1943–2022) became Australia's national high-jumping champion in 1962 with a jump of 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 metres). Later the same year, competing at the Perth Empire Games (now Commonwealth Games), he won the Gold Medal with a jump of 6 feet 11 inches (2.11 metres) - a jump that equalled the then Games record. Along with the boxer Jeff Dynevor, who won a Bantamweight Gold Medal at the same games, Hobson was the first Indigenous athlete ever to win Commonwealth Gold for Australia.
Purchased 2006
© Sahlan Hayes
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