Adrian Blair (21 December 1943 – 2008) was an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

boxer. He is known for being one of the first three Indigenous athletes to be included in the Australian Olympic team ever, competing in the

1964 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequ ...

in Japan.

Biography

Adrian Blair was born on 21 December 1943 in

Cherbourg, Queensland Cherbourg (), formerly known as Barambah, Barambah Aboriginal Settlement and Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement, is a rural town and locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Cherbourg, South Burnett region, Queensland, Australia. The traditional owne ...

. During his boxing career, he was 166 cm in height and weighed . In 1961 he became the national

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

champion, going on to become the national lightweight champion in 1962 and 1964. He competed at the

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Western Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. In the six years prior to his selection for the Australian Olympic team in 1964, Blair fought 70 fights, winning 47 of them. He competed at the

in the

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

division. His first round was a bye, after which he won his bout against Taiwanese boxer Chee-Chu Wang by knockout, less than two minutes into the fight. He lost his third round on points to

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

boxer Vilikton Barannikov, who went on to win the silver medal. Blair was one of three Indigenous Australian athletes to be the first to be selected for the Australian Olympic team, along with fellow boxer Frank Roberts and basketballer Michael Ah Matt.Osmond, Gary, Phillips, Murray G., and Harvey, Alistair (2022)
Fighting colonialism: Olympic boxing and Australian race relations
''Journal of Olympic Studies'' 3 (1), 72-95. He was inducted into the Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame. Blair died in 2008.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Adrian 1943 births Australian male boxers Indigenous Australian boxers Indigenous Australian Olympians Olympic boxers for Australia Boxers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Lightweight boxers Boxers at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games boxers for Australia Sportsmen from Queensland 20th-century Australian sportsmen 2008 deaths