Dunc Gray

Dunc Gray
Personal information
Full name	Edgar Laurence Gray
Nickname	Dunc
Born	17 July 1906; Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
Died	30 August 1996 (aged 90); Kiama, New South Wales, Australia
Team information
Discipline	Track
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Amateur team
	Goulburn Amateur Cycling Club
Medal record
Men's track cycling
Representing Australia
Olympic Games
British Empire Games

Edgar Laurence "Dunc" Gray (17 July 1906 – 30 August 1996) was an Australian track cyclist and Olympian.^[1]

Gray was born in Goulburn, New South Wales. He was called 'Dunc', which dates back to school where he was called 'Dunc' and this was later extended to 'Duncan'.^[2] He started competitive cycling with Goulburn Amateur Cycling Club around 1925. From 1926 to 1941 he won 20 Australian titles, 36 New South Wales titles, and 36 club championships. On eight occasions he was the NSW 1000m time trial and/or the 1000m sprint winner.

He won a bronze medal for the 1000m time trial at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. This was Australia's first Olympic Games medal in cycling. At the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles he won Australia's first cycling gold in the same event, in world record time of 1m 13s. He represented Australia at the 1934 British Empire Games and won the 1000m time trial. At the 1938 British Empire Games in Sydney, he won the 1000m sprint.

He was the flag-bearer for Australia at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and at the 1938 British Empire Games.

In his last years, Gray lived in Kiama and supported the Olympic movement, including Melbourne's bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics and then 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 at the 1932 Summer Olympics is at the Dunc Gray velodrome. Speedwell bicycles were manufactured by Charles Bennett, a former Intercolonial Champion of Australia, who raced pennyfathings before Federation in 1901.

In 1985, Gray was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.^[3] In 2015, he was an inaugural Cycling Australia Hall of Fame inductee.^[4]

References

^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Dunc Gray". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
^ "What's In a Name?". The Argus. 2 June 1934. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
^ "Edgar 'Dunc' Gray". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
^ "Inaugural Cycling Australia Hall of Fame inductees". Cycling Australia. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2015.