Iris Bent

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Iris Bent Road cycling
To person
Date of birth circa 1931
nation AustraliaAustralia Australia
discipline Train / street
End of career circa 1953
Last updated: May 14, 2020

Iris Bent , married Dixon , (* approx. 1931) is a former Australian cyclist .

Athletic career

Along with Berenice Wise, Iris Bent was one of the first generation of professional female cyclists in Australia. In 1945, at the age of 14, she entered her first race, following the example of her father George, known as Buzzer , club champion of the Brunswick Cycling Club . He was her trainer too.

Bent was considered an amateur until 1947 when the Victorian Women's Professional Cycling Union (VWPCU) was founded. In 1949 she was the first Australian champion, a total of twelve national titles on the track and four on the road . Iris Bent had a local sponsor who provided her with a special bike for a record ride behind the pacemaker motorcycle in 1947. The VWPCU was discontinued in 1954, however, and women's cycling in Australia lost its importance again. One reason for this was the resistance of the League of Victorian Wheelman (LVW) to accept the VWPCU and license the female athletes.

Iris Bent was married to Jim Dixon, who was also a cyclist, until his death; the couple had four children. After the birth of the fourth child, she resumed her cycling training, as she had meanwhile put on weight. After a collision with a car, she finally withdrew from racing. In 1992, at the age of around 60, however, she won a 66-kilometer Masters road race from Benalla to Yarrawonga and in 2004 she was Senior World Champion (70-74) in the criterion .

Iris Dixon was inducted into the Victorian Cycling Hall of Fame in 2014 and into the Cycling Australia Hall of Fame in 2016 , after the cyclist Anna Millward brought the name of Iris Bent into play in her acceptance speech on the occasion of her own induction into the Hall of Fame in 2015 . Cycling Victoria has been awarding the Iris Dixon Women's Cycling Champion of the Year for services to women's cycling since 2013 on the occasion of International Women's Day. Previous winners include former cyclist Tracey Gaudry (2014) and paracycler Carol Cooke (2017).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sports in Victoria. Ryan Publishing, 2015, ISBN 1876498536 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  2. ↑ a b c d e Monique Hanley: Golden Oldie: A ride through history with Australian cycling legend Iris Dixon. In: CyclingTips. June 9, 2016, accessed May 14, 2020 .
  3. ^ World Masters Games. Melbourne, Australia, October 5-12, 2002. In: autobus.cyclingnews.com. Retrieved May 14, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Iris Dixon (nee Bent) - CV recognizes women of influence and leaders in Cycling. In: cycling.org.au. Retrieved May 14, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Iris Bent. In: cycling.org.au. Retrieved May 14, 2020 .
  6. ↑ 2017 International Womens Day. In: eventdesq.sportstg.com. March 8, 2017, accessed May 14, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Cycling Victoria Women's Day Awards. In: cycling.org.au. Retrieved May 14, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Nominations Now Open for 2017 International Women's Day Awards. In: cycling.org.au. Retrieved May 14, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Bent, Iris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dixon, Iris (married name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH around 1931