Simon James Hollingsworth

As a schoolboy, Simon produced performances that marked him as an athlete with outstanding natural talent and with potential to reach international levels.

At state level he won 14 Tasmanian Senior Championships as a sprinter over 100, 200 and 400 metres. At one stage he held state records for each of the three events.

But it was a change to the 400 metre hurdles which saw this brilliant young athlete make his mark on the Australian and international scene. He represented Australia on no less than five occasions:

• 1990 Commonwealth Games, Auckland
• 1992 Olympic Games, Barcelona
• 1994 Commonwealth Games, Victoria, Canada
• 1995 World Championships, Stuttgart
• 1996 Olympic Games, Atlanta

He competed with distinction overseas without ever winning any medals. His performances ranked him in the top echelon of Australian performers over the 400 metres hurdles recording sub-49 seconds on a number of occasions.

Simon was highly regarded as an athlete and extremely well respected by his teammates who elected him to represent them on the Australian Athletes' Commission for four years and to the 1996 Olympic team executive as well.

An outstanding young man both as an athlete and academic, he graduated from the University of Tasmania with a law/ commerce degree. He was selected as the 1996 Tasmanian Rhodes Scholar possibly the only Australian Olympian ever to gain that honour. He is currently studying at Oxford.

Always modest in victory and gracious in defeat, Simon Hollingsworth was seen as exemplifying the highest ideals on sportsmanship and a role model for other young aspiring athletes.