Re: Mervyn Wood, 4-Time Olympic Rower, 89
Dave Sill
"DGH" <peri...@eudoramail.com> writes:
> It was reported from Sidney, Australia, that Mervyn Wood, one of
> Australia's great Olympic rowers, died Saturday August 19, 2006, at
> the age of 89.
>
> His death followed a battle with cancer, the Australian Olympic
> Committee said.
>
> Wood represented Australia at four Olympic Games and won three medals.
> He is the only Australian athlete to carry his country's flag at two
> Olympic opening ceremonies - in Helsinki in 1952 and again in
> Melbourne in 1956.
>
> He went to his first Olympic Games at 19 as a member of the eight in
> Berlin, Germany, in 1936.
>
> He won a gold medal in the single sculls at the 1948 London [England]
> Olympics, followed by a silver medal at Helsinki four years later in
> the same event.
>
> At the 1956 Melbourne [Australia] Games, Wood teamed with Murray Riley
> for bronze in the double sculls.
>
> "In terms of longevity, Merv's record is unsurpassed," John
> Coates, president of the Australian Olympic Committee, said Monday.
> "He was on top in his sport for over 20 years."
>
> Coates said World War II kept Wood from attending two Olympics at a
> time when he was in his 20's and at his athletic peak. "One wonders
> what his record might have been if not interrupted by the war," he
> said.
>
> Wood later became police commissioner of New South Wales.
>
> NY TIMES -- AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Jonny
Dave Sill wrote:
> From alt.obituaries...
> >
> > At the 1956 Melbourne [Australia] Games, Wood teamed with Murray Riley
> > for bronze in the double sculls.
> >
At one stage I think he even had to arrest his former double scull
partner.