Ian Browne (cyclist)
Encyclopedia
Ian Browne, also known as "Joey" Browne (born 22 June 1931) is a former Australian track cyclist
who along with Tony Marchant won the 2000 m tandem event at the 1956 Summer Olympics
in Melbourne
. Unusually tall and strongly built for a cyclist, Browne had little formal training and won his first Australian title in 1953 in the 10 mile event. Browne did not team up with Marchant until early in 1956 and they promptly won the tandem event at the national championships to earn national selection. The pair were eliminated after losing their first two races but were given a reprieve when the Soviet Union
pair were hospitalised in a crash and forced to withdraw. Thereafter Marchant and Browne were unbeaten and progressed to an unlikely Olympic gold. Browne's combination with Marchant was broken after the Olympics when the latter retired. In 1958, Browne won the 10 mile event at the national titles and went on to win the event at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
. Browne went on to compete in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics in the tandem event, both times with new partners, but both times he was eliminated in the repechage
round. In 1964, he became the oldest ever track cyclist to represent Australia at the Olympics at the age of 33. He won the last of his national titles at the age of 37 in 1968 in the tandem event but was overlooked for Olympic selection by Australian officials. He retired and later was involved in cycling administration.
to Linda and Alex Browne, the second of three brothers. His father was a printer and Browne took his elementary education at Chatham Public School, before moving on to Box Hill High School
and later took his university education at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
(RMIT). While he was at university, he also worked in Sunshine
as a laboratory assistant at Spaldings. At the age of 20, he graduated from RMIT and took a job at the State Electricity Commission, where he worked for over 35 years continuously since then, always riding his bicycle to work, a daily journey of around 15 km.
Browne learned to ride a bicycle at the age of four, but did not enter his first formal cycling competition until the age of 16, when he joined the Hawthorne Amateur Cycling Club. Browne made a habit of riding to training with his ordinary bike with heavy wheels to the club, carrying the lighter racing tyres on his back and changing his tyres upon his arrival. He earned extra money to fund a bicycle upgrade by working as a newspaper boy. There was little formal coaching at the club, and the cyclists learned by individual application and by watching and copying others. Browne and his club-mates raced on Saturdays and trained on Sundays.
Browne had his first success at a major competition when he won the 10 mile at his first Australian Championships in 1953. He did not team up with Tony Marchant until the start of 1956, just ten months before the start of the Melbourne Olympics. Marchant had risen to prominence by winning the 500 m time trial at the 1955 Australian Championships for juniors, prompting Browne to select him as his partner based on his raw speed. For a final test run before formally committing to racing together, the pair simply had a few tandem sprints around the track, with Browne sitting in the front seat. They were a contrasting pair; Marchant was a short man of 170 cm (5.6 ft) and 65 kg (143.3 lb), while Browne stood at 186 cm (6.1 ft) and 86 kg (189.6 lb), unusually tall for a cyclist. The pair went on to win the 2000 metre (m) tandem event at the Australian Championships in 1956, but going into the Melbourne Olympics, nobody, themselves included, regarded them as realistic medal chances. However, their mentor, former champion Billy Guyatt convinced them that they had the potential to make progress at international level.
Their training schedule consisted of individual training two or three times a week and two days a week of coordinated tandem training during the Olympic year. Marchant's main tactical responsibility was to look to the outside for impending attacks while Browne patrolled the inside. Marchant devised a signal system, such as a head bump on Browne's hip, or even a verbal shout when the opposition made a move.
in Helsinki. The Australians made their move too early and led at the ringing of the bell at the start of the last lap, but they were overhauled well before the line as they faded in the final straight. Browne and Marchant were given another chance in the repechage
round later in the same day. The Australians lead for three quarters of the distance, but were overhauled by their Czechoslovakia
n opponent in the final metres and were defeated in a photo finish. This would normally have meant that the Australians would have been eliminated, however the final repechage between the Soviet Union
and the Germans resulted in a tangle, resulting in a heavy pile-up. Neither teams finished the race, but the Soviets were hospitalised. The cycling officials decided that the bruised Germans would be forced to compete in a repechage sequel against the losers in the previous repechages to qualify. This allowed the United States and the Australians a reprieve.
The Australians seized their good fortune and set their fastest time to date with 11.0 seconds (s). Having been beaten twice after leading out, the Australians sat back before sweeping past the injured Germans and the Americans in the final lap. Australia were again drawn against South Africa in their quarter-final, who had defeated them easily in the heats. This time they equalled the fastest team in the competition over the final 200 m, clocking 10.8 s to progress to the final, where they faced the Italy. Giuseppe Ogna and Cesare Pinarello appeared to be in control at the start of the final lap. They had moved alongside the Australians with one and a half laps to go, but the Australians surprised them at the start of the final lap. The Italians came back to pull level at the start of the back straight, but the Australians held them off and pulled away to win by a length and a half. The Italians lodged a protest for interference but it was dismissed. The Australians finished in a time of 10.8 s and Browne later claimed that he was convinced by the performance that they would win the gold medal.
The final took place on the third day of racing. The Australians came to the conclusion that their wheels and tyres were too heavy, so they sought to buy better cycling equipment from the defeated Germans. The Germans agreed, saying "Have ours and you will win the gold medal." Australia were again pitted against the Czechoslovak Vaclav Machek and Ladislav Foucek. One of the reasons behind Australia's return to form had been the return of Guyatt to a mentoring role. Guyatt had assisted them at the national championships, but they were assigned to another coach at the Olympics. Guyatt was regarded as a marketing-style motivator and he attempted to give Browne and Marchant a psychological boost. Equipped with their new machines, Browne and Marchant employed a tactical trick devised by Guyatt. The Australian staff had noticed that the Czechoslovaks had always made their final burst from a certain point from the finish. During the final, Australian team manager Bill Young stood at the said point as the Australian led out. When Browne came to the point, he pulled upwards and pre-emptively blocked the expected Czechoslovakian attack. This helped to stifle the attack and Australia went on to win the gold medal.
at Cardiff
in Wales
. He was unplaced in the sprint, but won the 10 mile race to collect a gold medal. Browne had intended to retire after returning from Cardiff, but the lure of a second Olympics proved too much. In 1960, he won the 2000 m tandem with Geoff Smith at the Australian Championships and was selected for the 1960 Summer Olympics
in Rome
. There was to be no repeat of the triumph in Melbourne, as the pair were eliminated in the second repechage. Since no other Australian older than 28 had ever represented the nation in cycling, Browne was the oldest ever male cyclist to represent Australia at the Olympics. Browne continued to the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
in Perth, Western Australia
, but was unable to win a gold in front of his home crowd, finishing with a bronze in the sprint. In 1964, Browne again won the tandem event at the Australian Championships, combining with his new partner Daryl Perkins
. The pair then went to the 1964 Summer Olympics
in Tokyo
, where Browne beat his own mark of being the oldest cyclist to represent Australia at the Olympics, at the age of 33. This time, the Australians were eliminated in the quarter-final. Browne continued to compete at national level, successfully defending the tandem title in 1965, this time with a new partner Gordon Johnson. He won his fifth and final tandem and his last Australian Championship in 1968 with Johnson, but the Australian selectors overlooked Browne, instead selecting Hilton Clarke
to partner Johnson in the tandem at the 1968 Summer Olympics
in Mexico City
, ending Browne's career.
Browne was regarded as an intelligent and meticulous athlete, who was known for a logical and somewhat introspective style in his approach to the sport. He felt that he did not have the raw speed to match the likes of Lionel Cox
and Dick Ploog in vying for selection in Australia's sprint team, and that he was not suited to long road races, instead focusing on medium length track racing. Browne typically was the front rider in tandem races, liking to be in control. He was regarded to be a cyclist who behaved in a careful and scholarly manner, and was known for coaxing higher levels of performance out of his younger partners. Browne was respected for his technical knowledge of the tandem and his success was often attributed to his vast experience.
Track cycling
Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using track bicycles....
who along with Tony Marchant won the 2000 m tandem event at the 1956 Summer Olympics
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. Unusually tall and strongly built for a cyclist, Browne had little formal training and won his first Australian title in 1953 in the 10 mile event. Browne did not team up with Marchant until early in 1956 and they promptly won the tandem event at the national championships to earn national selection. The pair were eliminated after losing their first two races but were given a reprieve when the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
pair were hospitalised in a crash and forced to withdraw. Thereafter Marchant and Browne were unbeaten and progressed to an unlikely Olympic gold. Browne's combination with Marchant was broken after the Olympics when the latter retired. In 1958, Browne won the 10 mile event at the national titles and went on to win the event at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Cardiff, capital of Wales from 18–26 July 1958.Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,130 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games and 23 countries and dependencies won medals, including, for the first time, Singapore, Ghana, Kenya...
. Browne went on to compete in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics in the tandem event, both times with new partners, but both times he was eliminated in the repechage
Repechage
Repechage is a practice amongst ladder competitions that allows participants that failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round.- Types of repechage :...
round. In 1964, he became the oldest ever track cyclist to represent Australia at the Olympics at the age of 33. He won the last of his national titles at the age of 37 in 1968 in the tandem event but was overlooked for Olympic selection by Australian officials. He retired and later was involved in cycling administration.
Early years
Browne was born in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
to Linda and Alex Browne, the second of three brothers. His father was a printer and Browne took his elementary education at Chatham Public School, before moving on to Box Hill High School
Box Hill High School
Box Hill High School is a co-educational public secondary school located on the corner of Middleborough and Whitehorse Roads in the eastern suburb of Box Hill in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
and later took his university education at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
RMIT University
RMIT University is an Australian public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. It has two branches, referred to as RMIT University in Australia and RMIT International University in Vietnam....
(RMIT). While he was at university, he also worked in Sunshine
Sunshine, Victoria
Sunshine is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia lying 11 to 13 km west of the CBD. Its Local Government Area is the City of Brimbank. At the 2006 Census, Sunshine had a population of 8,070.-History:...
as a laboratory assistant at Spaldings. At the age of 20, he graduated from RMIT and took a job at the State Electricity Commission, where he worked for over 35 years continuously since then, always riding his bicycle to work, a daily journey of around 15 km.
Browne learned to ride a bicycle at the age of four, but did not enter his first formal cycling competition until the age of 16, when he joined the Hawthorne Amateur Cycling Club. Browne made a habit of riding to training with his ordinary bike with heavy wheels to the club, carrying the lighter racing tyres on his back and changing his tyres upon his arrival. He earned extra money to fund a bicycle upgrade by working as a newspaper boy. There was little formal coaching at the club, and the cyclists learned by individual application and by watching and copying others. Browne and his club-mates raced on Saturdays and trained on Sundays.
Browne had his first success at a major competition when he won the 10 mile at his first Australian Championships in 1953. He did not team up with Tony Marchant until the start of 1956, just ten months before the start of the Melbourne Olympics. Marchant had risen to prominence by winning the 500 m time trial at the 1955 Australian Championships for juniors, prompting Browne to select him as his partner based on his raw speed. For a final test run before formally committing to racing together, the pair simply had a few tandem sprints around the track, with Browne sitting in the front seat. They were a contrasting pair; Marchant was a short man of 170 cm (5.6 ft) and 65 kg (143.3 lb), while Browne stood at 186 cm (6.1 ft) and 86 kg (189.6 lb), unusually tall for a cyclist. The pair went on to win the 2000 metre (m) tandem event at the Australian Championships in 1956, but going into the Melbourne Olympics, nobody, themselves included, regarded them as realistic medal chances. However, their mentor, former champion Billy Guyatt convinced them that they had the potential to make progress at international level.
Their training schedule consisted of individual training two or three times a week and two days a week of coordinated tandem training during the Olympic year. Marchant's main tactical responsibility was to look to the outside for impending attacks while Browne patrolled the inside. Marchant devised a signal system, such as a head bump on Browne's hip, or even a verbal shout when the opposition made a move.
Olympic gold
Ten nations were entered in the tandem competition, and in the first round, they were drawn with Germany and South Africa, who fielded their silver medallist pairing of Tom Shardelow and Ray Robinson from the 1952 Summer Olympics1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...
in Helsinki. The Australians made their move too early and led at the ringing of the bell at the start of the last lap, but they were overhauled well before the line as they faded in the final straight. Browne and Marchant were given another chance in the repechage
Repechage
Repechage is a practice amongst ladder competitions that allows participants that failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round.- Types of repechage :...
round later in the same day. The Australians lead for three quarters of the distance, but were overhauled by their Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
n opponent in the final metres and were defeated in a photo finish. This would normally have meant that the Australians would have been eliminated, however the final repechage between the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the Germans resulted in a tangle, resulting in a heavy pile-up. Neither teams finished the race, but the Soviets were hospitalised. The cycling officials decided that the bruised Germans would be forced to compete in a repechage sequel against the losers in the previous repechages to qualify. This allowed the United States and the Australians a reprieve.
The Australians seized their good fortune and set their fastest time to date with 11.0 seconds (s). Having been beaten twice after leading out, the Australians sat back before sweeping past the injured Germans and the Americans in the final lap. Australia were again drawn against South Africa in their quarter-final, who had defeated them easily in the heats. This time they equalled the fastest team in the competition over the final 200 m, clocking 10.8 s to progress to the final, where they faced the Italy. Giuseppe Ogna and Cesare Pinarello appeared to be in control at the start of the final lap. They had moved alongside the Australians with one and a half laps to go, but the Australians surprised them at the start of the final lap. The Italians came back to pull level at the start of the back straight, but the Australians held them off and pulled away to win by a length and a half. The Italians lodged a protest for interference but it was dismissed. The Australians finished in a time of 10.8 s and Browne later claimed that he was convinced by the performance that they would win the gold medal.
The final took place on the third day of racing. The Australians came to the conclusion that their wheels and tyres were too heavy, so they sought to buy better cycling equipment from the defeated Germans. The Germans agreed, saying "Have ours and you will win the gold medal." Australia were again pitted against the Czechoslovak Vaclav Machek and Ladislav Foucek. One of the reasons behind Australia's return to form had been the return of Guyatt to a mentoring role. Guyatt had assisted them at the national championships, but they were assigned to another coach at the Olympics. Guyatt was regarded as a marketing-style motivator and he attempted to give Browne and Marchant a psychological boost. Equipped with their new machines, Browne and Marchant employed a tactical trick devised by Guyatt. The Australian staff had noticed that the Czechoslovaks had always made their final burst from a certain point from the finish. During the final, Australian team manager Bill Young stood at the said point as the Australian led out. When Browne came to the point, he pulled upwards and pre-emptively blocked the expected Czechoslovakian attack. This helped to stifle the attack and Australia went on to win the gold medal.
Later career
Following the Olympics, Marchant retired, and Browne went on to win the individual 10 mile race at the 1958 Australian Championships. Browne went to the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Cardiff, capital of Wales from 18–26 July 1958.Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,130 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games and 23 countries and dependencies won medals, including, for the first time, Singapore, Ghana, Kenya...
at Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. He was unplaced in the sprint, but won the 10 mile race to collect a gold medal. Browne had intended to retire after returning from Cardiff, but the lure of a second Olympics proved too much. In 1960, he won the 2000 m tandem with Geoff Smith at the Australian Championships and was selected for the 1960 Summer Olympics
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. There was to be no repeat of the triumph in Melbourne, as the pair were eliminated in the second repechage. Since no other Australian older than 28 had ever represented the nation in cycling, Browne was the oldest ever male cyclist to represent Australia at the Olympics. Browne continued to the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Western Australia, Australia from 22 November-1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth....
in Perth, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, but was unable to win a gold in front of his home crowd, finishing with a bronze in the sprint. In 1964, Browne again won the tandem event at the Australian Championships, combining with his new partner Daryl Perkins
Daryl Perkins
-Biography:Perkins was born and lives in the state of Victoria, Australia. He was a sprint, tandem and six-day rider.Perkins teamed with Ian Browne to win the tandem sprint at the Australian National Track Championships. That qualified them to compete at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo...
. The pair then went to the 1964 Summer Olympics
1964 Summer Olympics
The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, where Browne beat his own mark of being the oldest cyclist to represent Australia at the Olympics, at the age of 33. This time, the Australians were eliminated in the quarter-final. Browne continued to compete at national level, successfully defending the tandem title in 1965, this time with a new partner Gordon Johnson. He won his fifth and final tandem and his last Australian Championship in 1968 with Johnson, but the Australian selectors overlooked Browne, instead selecting Hilton Clarke
Hilton Clarke
Hilton Clarke is an Australian cyclist.He became a professional in 2001. He was introduced to the sport by his father, an Olympic cyclist, at the age of 9...
to partner Johnson in the tandem at the 1968 Summer Olympics
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...
in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, ending Browne's career.
Browne was regarded as an intelligent and meticulous athlete, who was known for a logical and somewhat introspective style in his approach to the sport. He felt that he did not have the raw speed to match the likes of Lionel Cox
Lionel Cox
Lionel Malvyne Cox OAM was an Australian Olympic cyclist.-Results and awards:*1948 – 49 1st N.S.W. 1000 metre Sprint Title*1949 – 50 1st N.S.W...
and Dick Ploog in vying for selection in Australia's sprint team, and that he was not suited to long road races, instead focusing on medium length track racing. Browne typically was the front rider in tandem races, liking to be in control. He was regarded to be a cyclist who behaved in a careful and scholarly manner, and was known for coaxing higher levels of performance out of his younger partners. Browne was respected for his technical knowledge of the tandem and his success was often attributed to his vast experience.