Dunc Gray
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Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Edgar Laurence Gray |
Date of birth | July 17, 1906 |
Date of death | August 30, 1996 (aged 90) |
Country | Australia |
Team information | |
Discipline | Track |
Role | Rider |
Rider type | Sprinter |
Amateur team(s) | |
Goulburn Amateur Cycling Club | |
Infobox last updated on: | |
12 April 2008 |
Medal record | |||
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Competitor for Australia | |||
Track cycling | |||
Olympic Games | |||
Bronze | 1928 Amsterdam | 1000 metre time trial | |
Gold | 1932 Los Angeles | 1000 metre time trial | |
British Empire Games | |||
Gold | 1934 London | Kilo | |
Gold | 1938 Sydney | Kilo |
Edgar Laurence ("Dunc") Gray (July 17, 1906 – 30 August 1996) was a track cyclist from Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia who won Australia's first Olympic Games medal in cycling at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam: a bronze medal for the 1000m Time Trial. Four years later at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles he won Australia's first cycling gold medal in the same event in World and Olympic record time (1.13). He went on to represent Australia at the 1934 British Empire Games where he won a gold medal in the 1000m Time Trial. At the 1938 British Empire Games he won gold for the 1000m Sprint. He was the flag-bearer for Australia at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
Gray started competitive cycling with the Goulburn Amateur Cycling Club around 1925. From 1926 to 1941 Dunc Gray won 20 Australian titles, 36 New South Wales state titles, and 36 club championships. On eight occasions he was the NSW 1000m time trial and/or the 1000m sprint winner.
In his last years, Dunc Gray lived in Kiama and devoted energy to supporting the Olympic movement, including Melbourne's bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics and then for Sydney's successful bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics. The Dunc Gray Velodrome at Bass Hill, in Sydney's western suburbs, was built for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and named after him.
The Speedwell bike that Gray rode to fame at the 1932 Winter Olympics is on display at the Dunc Gray velodrome. Speedwell bicycles were manufactured by Charles Bennett, a former Intercolonial Champion of Australia, who was an accomplished bike racer on pennyfathings before Federation in 1901 and became an importer and mass market manufacturer of bicycles under the Speedwell brand.