Iris Dixon
Iris Dixon was a champion Australian cyclist, winning sixteen Australian titles on road and track and crowned Champion of Champion three times over her long career.[1]
Early life
Iris Dixon was born Iris Mary Bent in 1931 to George and Ellen Bent in North Carlton, Melbourne, Australia. The oldest of four children, Iris learnt to ride when she was four years old on a bicycle her father George 'Buzzer' Bent had built for her.[2]
Iris started training at the Brunswick Cycling Club where her father raced. Women could not join the club at the time but the club allowed girls and women to train on their track.
Cycling career
At fourteen in 1945 Iris Dixon was entered into her first race.
In 1947 Iris raced with the Victorian Women's Professional Cycling Union. The League of Victorian Wheelmen refused to recognise women's racing so the VWPCU found an ally in the Victorian Athletics League, whose officials would donate their time to overseeing women's races held in conjunction with local athletic carnivals.
In 1951 Iris collected all five national titles at the Bundaberg championships and became Champion of Champions.[3]
On her return to Melbourne she was met by Hubert Opperman MHR[4] and his wife in his capacity as Chairman of the Commonwealth[4] Jubilee sporting celebrations committee.
Hubert Opperman described her achievement as "the most outstanding showing by a Victorian woman cyclist in history."[5]
Brisbane cycling journalist Col Caves claimed in an article in the Sunday Mail in January 1951 that Iris was "the best women's track cyclist in the world today".[6]
Iris Dixon retained the title of Australian Champion of Champions the following year in 1952 after again winning four titles at the Bundaberg carnival.[7]
Iris continued racing after the birth of her first child.[8]
Iris stopped racing after the birth of her second child before returning to racing in her mid-fifties in the 1970s.
At sixty years of age Iris won the 1992 open 66 kilometre Northern Veterans handicap race from Benalla to Yarrawonga.
Personal life
At eighteen Iris married Jim Dixon, a cyclist from Western Australia. She continued to race and collect more national and Victorian titles under her maiden name. Iris had four children Iris Dixon died Saturday 23rd July 2022 aged 91.
Recognition
In 2014 Iris was inducted into the Cycling Victoria Hall of Fame followed by the Cycling Australia Hall of Fame in 2016[9]
Iris Dixon was posthumously awarded a Merri-bek Award for Contribution to Sport[10]
In 2023 the National Museum of Australia acquired thirteen items to establish the Iris Dixon Collection[11]
In 2025 the new Veloway associated with the West Gate Tunnel Project on Footscray Road was named the Dixon Veloway in honour of Iris Dixon[2]
References
- ↑ "Vale Iris Dixon". SBS Sport. July 23, 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://archive.md/fkNGU
- ↑ "Woman Cyclist Scoops Championship Pool". January 2, 1951. p. 14 – via Trove.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204964509
- ↑ http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article275181589
- ↑ http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article98348146
- ↑ http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42781354
- ↑ http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2857493
- ↑ "Iris Dixon (nee Bent)". AusCycling.
- ↑ https://www.merri-bek.vic.gov.au/my-council/grants-and-awards/merri-bek-awards/#autoAnchor2
- ↑ https://collectionsearch.nma.gov.au
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