Colin Hickey
Encyclopedia
Colin Edward Hickey was an Australia
n speed skater
. He represented Australia at the 1952
, 1956
and 1960 Winter Olympics
. His seventh place in the 1956 Winter Olympics was Australia's best result until 1976.
He was born in Fairfield, Victoria
.
Hickey became a "rink rat" when his father took him to the Glaciarium in Melbourne
. "I felt an affinity with it" he recalled, saying "To do it well is to feel like a bird flying." He earned the money to buy skates from selling newspapers. To get to the Glacarium from his place in Fairfield
, he had to walk, take a bus and then a train. He tried ice hockey
, but because of his small frame (he grew up to be 162 centimetres and weigh 56 kilograms), he was overlooked, and took up speed skating.
He took a ship to Europe
to reach the speed skating hub of Norway
. He worked as a lumberjack
, and learned to speak the local language. "We did it hard, lived maybe two weeks at a time on just museli. It was difficult, but I had some of the best times of my life then. What was good was that they [the Australian authorities] had no control over me. We just did it all by the seat of our pants. All they'd do was tell me what times I had to do to qualify for selection, and it would be up to me." He found changing from indoor skating in Australia to skating outside in Norway a major change "It was like going from ping-pong to lawn tennis, from dirt-track to Grand Prix ... the outdoor was so much more demanding, in terms of strength and technique."
He said that conditions for Australian Winter Olympians used to be basic:
Talking in 1993 about Sonnpark, a joint Australian-Austria
n facility for winter and summer sports, he said "Yeah. It's great ... I reckon it would have made life a bit easier in the old days. With that sort of back-up, we'd have given them [the Europeans] a run for their money."
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n speed skater
Speed skating
Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...
. He represented Australia at the 1952
1952 Winter Olympics
The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games, took place in Oslo, Norway, from 14 to 25 February 1952. Discussions about Oslo hosting the Winter Olympic Games began as early as 1935; the city wanted to host the 1948 Games, but World War II made that impossible...
, 1956
1956 Winter Olympics
The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. This celebration of the Games was held from 26 January to 5 February 1956. Cortina, which had originally been awarded the 1944 Winter Olympics, beat out...
and 1960 Winter Olympics
1960 Winter Olympics
The 1960 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held between February 18 and 28, 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, United States. In 1955 at the 50th IOC meeting, the organizing committee made the surprise choice to award Squaw Valley as...
. His seventh place in the 1956 Winter Olympics was Australia's best result until 1976.
He was born in Fairfield, Victoria
Fairfield, Victoria
Fairfield is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Darebin and Yarra...
.
Hickey became a "rink rat" when his father took him to the Glaciarium 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...
. "I felt an affinity with it" he recalled, saying "To do it well is to feel like a bird flying." He earned the money to buy skates from selling newspapers. To get to the Glacarium from his place in Fairfield
Fairfield, Victoria
Fairfield is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Darebin and Yarra...
, he had to walk, take a bus and then a train. He tried ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, but because of his small frame (he grew up to be 162 centimetres and weigh 56 kilograms), he was overlooked, and took up speed skating.
He took a ship to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to reach the speed skating hub of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. He worked as a lumberjack
Lumberjack
A lumberjack is a worker in the logging industry who performs the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era when hand tools were used in harvesting trees principally from virgin forest...
, and learned to speak the local language. "We did it hard, lived maybe two weeks at a time on just museli. It was difficult, but I had some of the best times of my life then. What was good was that they [the Australian authorities] had no control over me. We just did it all by the seat of our pants. All they'd do was tell me what times I had to do to qualify for selection, and it would be up to me." He found changing from indoor skating in Australia to skating outside in Norway a major change "It was like going from ping-pong to lawn tennis, from dirt-track to Grand Prix ... the outdoor was so much more demanding, in terms of strength and technique."
He said that conditions for Australian Winter Olympians used to be basic:
- We didn't get a uniform. I never had an Australian blazer once in three Olympics. In 1952, because King George had died, they issued us with a black armband and tie for the opening ceremony. Nothing else. You wore it with whatever you had. I had a green sweater and ski slacks. In 1956 I was issued with no gear at all, even though I was the best-performed member of the team by about a hundred per cent. I couldn't march without any kind of uniform, so I stayed in the hotel. In 1960 they gave us a duffle coat and a sweater and that covered everything you had. That was it. You had to look after yourself.
Talking in 1993 about Sonnpark, a joint Australian-Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n facility for winter and summer sports, he said "Yeah. It's great ... I reckon it would have made life a bit easier in the old days. With that sort of back-up, we'd have given them [the Europeans] a run for their money."
See also
- Australia at the 1952 Winter OlympicsAustralia at the 1952 Winter OlympicsAustralia's second Winter Olympic Games appearance was at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway. It was 16 years since Australia's last Winter Games, as the 1940 and 1944 Winter Olympics were cancelled, and Australia did not compete in the 1948 Winter Olympics. Australia sent nine athletes and...
- Australia at the 1956 Winter OlympicsAustralia at the 1956 Winter OlympicsAustralia competed in the Winter Olympic Games for the third time at the 1956 Winter Olympics at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Australia sent 10 athletes that competed in alpine skiing, figure skating and speed skating....
- Australia at the 1960 Winter OlympicsAustralia at the 1960 Winter OlympicsAustralia competed at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, United States. This was the first and last time Australia competed in ice hockey and nordic combined. While ice hockey gave Australia its only top ten finish in this games, the team lost all of their matches, conceding double-digit goals...