ABOUT
Australia’s very first world champion, Robert ‘Bob’ Spears won sprint gold at the 1920 Antwerp Track World Championships which he followed up with consecutive silver medals in 1921 and 1922.
Spears began cycling in Dubbo, New South Wales, and won his first race at 14. He started riding seriously in 1910 and had a professional career that started in 1913 and spanned more than 15 years.
During that time he won a number of Six-Day races in Australia, travelled to America where he showed his talent instantly by winning the five mile championship of Valisburg and the team sprint race with Joe Fogler. In 1918 he won 27 races to claim the all round championship of America.
Bob went on to make a name for himself in Europe by defeating all the European champions in 1919. He won 19 races and won the six day and was quickly recognised as the best sprinter in the world.
After retiring from racing Spears became the track manager at the Sydney Sports Arena, the only indoor velodrome in New South Wales at the time. Unfortunately Bob passed away in 1950 after a battle with cancer.
He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.
