Joshua James Ross (born 9 February 1981) is an

indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples o ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

sprinter. He was national 100-metre (100m) champion for several years and competed for Australia at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and 2012 Summer Olympics. Ross is the fourth fastest Australian of all time with a personal best time of 10.08 seconds achieved on 10 March 2008, after Patrick Johnson (9.93 in 2010), Rohan Browning (10.01 in 2021) and

Matt Shirvington Matt Shirvington (born 25 October 1978) is an Australian athlete and television presenter who held the Australian 100m national sprint title from 1998 to 2002. Shirvington is the third fastest Australian sprinter of all time. He qualified for ...

(10.03 in 2007).

Early life

Ross was born 9 February 1981 in Sydney. He spent his early childhood in south western Sydney and moved with his family to the Central Coast at around age seven. He went to Woy Woy Public School and Henry Kendall High School. On the Central Coast, Ross attended Little Athletics and he won his first Australian title at age 10 in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. Apart from the occasional school competition, however, he did not return to athletics until he was nineteen. During that time he played representative rugby league on the Central Coast.

Career

Ross attracted immediate attention as a sprinter in 2003 when he comfortably won the

Stawell Gift The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short-distance running race. It is the main event in an annual carnival held on Easter weekend by the Stawell Athletic Club, with the main race finals on the holiday Monday, at Central Park, S ...

off a mark of . In 2005, he again won the Stawell Gift – this time from the honoured scratch mark time, becoming only the second athlete to achieve this feat (behind

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

's Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa in 1975) and the first Australian. He also became the third person ever to win the event twice. He reached the semi-finals at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2005 World Championships. He has won four consecutive Australian national 100-metre titles and became a vital and successful member of Australia's 4 × 100m relay team which placed sixth at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Ross holds the fastest 100m time by an Australian on native soil, his personal best, 10.08 seconds, set in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

on 10 March 2007. He also has a personal best in the

200m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

of 20.53. An Indigenous Australian, Ross was awarded the 2004

Deadly Award The Deadly Awards, commonly known simply as The Deadlys, was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The event was held from 1995 to 2013. Description T ...

for Male Sportsperson of the Year. Ross won his fifth Australian national 100m title in March 2009; and reportedly retired in the same year. Ross returned to athletics and won his sixth national 100m title in 2012 with a time of 10.23. Ross also threatened to walk out of the Australian 4 × 100m Olympic relay team if he was not allowed to compete in the individual men's 100 metres at the Olympic Games. Ross's most successful year has been 2007 when he ran his personal best of 10.08 then 10.10 then 10.12 and then 10.13. He was a member of the Australian 4 × 100m relay team that equalled the Australian record when they qualified for the finals at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Ross and

John Steffensen John William Steffensen (born 30 August 1982) is an Australian former track and field athlete, who specialised in 200 and 400 metres. He won silver at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. His personal bests were 20.79 and 44.73. Biography Born in Per ...

held a press conference in the week before the games began, criticising their selection in only the relay event and not the individual races. Ross gained the sprint double at the 2013 Victorian Championships when he won the men's open 100-metre and 200-metre finals at

Lakeside Stadium Lakeside Stadium is an Australian sports arena in the South Melbourne suburb of Albert Park. Comprising an athletics track and soccer stadium, it currently serves as the home ground and administrative base for association football club South M ...

, Albert Park. In 2013 Ross won his seventh national title in a time of 10.34 seconds, equalling the record of Hec Hogan. In late 2013

Athletics Australia Athletics Australia is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Sport Australia for the sport of athletics in Australia. First founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 registere ...

served Ross with an infringement notice for failing to appear for mandatory

Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) was a government statutory authority tasked to protect Australia's sporting integrity through the elimination of doping. The authority was part of the Department of Health's portfolio and wa ...

drug tests on three occasions over an 18-month period. Following an appeal to the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...

, Ross was suspended for 12 months, which ruled him out of the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

. In 2018 Ross competed in the Stawell Gift, but did not progress beyond the heats. He is recognised in the

Australian Olympic Committee Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

list of Australian Indigenous Olympians.

References

External links

Profile
at London2012.com
Profile
at Australian Olympic Team * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Josh 1981 births Living people Australian male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia Stawell Gift winners Athletes from Sydney Indigenous Australian Olympians Indigenous Australian track and field athletes World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Doping cases in athletics Doping cases in Australian track and field Sportsmen from New South Wales Australian Athletics Championships winners