Peter Mullins
Personal information
NationalityAustralian
Born(1926-07-09)9 July 1926
Bondi, New South Wales, Australia
Died13 April 2012(2012-04-13) (aged 85)
Sydney, Australia
Sport
EventDecathlon

Peter Mullins (9 July 1926 – 13 April 2012)[1] was an Australian decathlete and basketball player.[2] He competed in the decathlon at the 1948 Summer Olympics.[3] As a basketball player, he played at the 1959 FIBA World Championship on the Canadian team.[4] Mullins also coached the UBC Thunderbirds for twenty years, recording more than 330 wins.[5]

Early life

Mullins was born in Bondi, Australia in 1926.[6] Mullins played hockey, rugby, Australian rules football, table tennis and was swimmer.[6] At the age of fifteen, Mullins became a pole vaulter, before moving onto the decathlon.[3] He gained his diploma in physical education from the Sydney Teachers' College.[5]

Career

In 1946, he broke the Australian record for the decathlon, and was selected to represent Australia in the event at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England.[3] He finished in sixth place at the Olympics,[6] setting another Australian record in the process.[3] At the 1949 Australian championships, Mullins won a gold and two bronze, before his focus moved to basketball.[3][6]

After moving to the United States, Mullins was offered a scholarship at Washington State University.[3][6] After graduating, he moved to Canada and became a member of staff at the University of British Columbia in 1955.[3][6] Mullins then went to represent the Canadian basketball team at the 1959 FIBA World Championship.[3] He continued playing throughout the 1960s and 1970s, before retiring in 1982.[3] Mullins also coached the Canadian basketball team at the 1970 Summer Universiade in Turin, Italy.[3] His team at the University of British Columbia also won the Western Canadian University Championships seven times from 1963 to 1975.[6][5]

Death

Mullins returned to Australia, where he died in 2012, aged 85.[3][7] He was inducted into the British Columbia Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Dr. Peter Mullins Trophy is award to the best rookie player in universities in Canada.[3][5]

References

  1. ↑ "UBC Thunderbirds coaching icon Mullins passes away". boxscorenews. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  2. ↑ "This basketball answers the demands for sporting action". The ABC Weekly. 9 January 1954. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Peter Mullins". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "Peter Mullins Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Peter Mullins". Go Thunderbirds. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Dr Peter Mullins – The Unknown Star". Global Star Holidays. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  7. ↑ "Gallagher: UBC great Peter Mullins remembered as funny, principled, athletic". The Province. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.