Hickey, Colin Edward

BORN JULY 3RD 1931 at Fairfield in Melbourne, he grew up in North Fitzroy and learned to skate at the Glaciarium and St Moritz ice rinks. Nicknamed "rink rat", he sold newspapers each night after his first trip to Melbourne Glaciarium with his father, and saved to buy his own pair of skates.

At just 18, he sailed to Europe to try his luck in the speed skating hub of Norway, inspired by English skater Don McCarthy who lived in Melbourne. Finding work as a lumberjack, he learned to speak Norwegian and immersed himself in the short but hectic winter skating seasons. "We did it hard, lived maybe two weeks at a time on just muesli. It was difficult, but I had some of the best times of my life then," he said. He paid his own way, finding work as a handyman, builder and forestry worker, and returning home after the northern winters.

Hickey was only 162 cm tall and weighed 56 kg. He needed to extract more than most from the technique and style of skating to become internationally competitive. He adopted the training methods of Melbourne athletic coach Percy Cerutty, and later used them to develop women’s short track speed skating in Victoria and interstate. Some of his former students, including Pam Cavanagh and Maggie Holland, continued his coaching tradition. His skating at its peak was so smooth and efficient it looked effortless.

Australia's first great ice racer, he represented his country three times at the Winter Olympics from 1952 to 1960, and the Long Track World Championships in 1955, '56, '58, '59 and '60. He qualified for the 10,000m event twice in world championships, both in Oslo in 1956 and 1959, finishing 11th overall on both occasions. He finally returned home to Melbourne to continue his skating in 1963.

At the Games at Bislett in Oslo in 1952 he was no more impressive than Australia's first Winter Olympian, Ken Kennedy. But from 1955 he travelled regularly to Europe for winter training and improved his results dramatically. At the 1956 Olympics, he finished seventh in both the men’s 500m and 1500m speed skating events. His time would easily have won gold medals at the previous Olympics.

Australia sent a 10-person team to compete in the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. His seventh place was Australia's best result from twenty years until bettered by Colin Coates in 1976. "In 1956 I was issued with no gear at all," he said in 1993, recalling some of the more primitive aspects of life as an Olympic team member of his day, "even though I was the best performed member of the team… I couldn’t march without any kind of uniform, so I stayed in the hotel".

At the world championship in 1960, he became the first Australian medallist in a speed skating event, placed third in the 500m. At the 1960 Olymics he finished 13th/44 in the 500m, and 14th/45 in the 1500m. Talked back into racing in 1967 when he was 36, he won the quarter, half, and one mile distances in the Victorian championships, then retired to coach and mentor young skaters.

He moved north to Queensland in the 1990s and died on January 13th 1999. He still holds one rink record each in Seweden's Halmstad, Krångede, Kvarnsveden and Linköping. He was the second inductee to the Australian Ice Racing Roll of Honour. His personal bests were 500 - 41.3 (1960); 1500 - 2.11.8 (1956); 5000 - 8.10.0 (1956); 1000 - 17.37.3 (1956). He is remembered as a great character and a fierce competitor.