Lynch Cooper (c. 1905–1971) was an Aboriginal Australian sprinter who 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 ...

in 1928 and the world's professional sprint championship competition in 1929.

Sport

Cooper, a Yorta Yorta man, who was a gifted runner from an early age, where he won many local and interstate races prior to winning the Stawell Gift in 1928 on his third attempt. Lynch won many gift races across Victoria and interstate. In the mid 1920's Cooper played football for both Nhill and Jeparit Football Clubs and later played in

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had a population of 29,808 per the 2021 Australian Census. The city is located at the confluence, junction of the Ovens River, ...

's 1933

Ovens & Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (OMFNL or O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales ...

premiership. Lynch was later an original inductee into the

Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame The Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1994 to recognise Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) that have achieved at the highest level of their chosen sport. It wa ...

. He later become prominent in Aboriginal activism including as president of the Aboriginal Progressive Association in the 1940s.

Family

Cooper was born at Moira Lake near

Tocumwal Tocumwal ( ) is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Berrigan Shire Local government in Australia, local government area. The town, north of the city of Melbourne, lies on the northern bank of the Murray ...

and was educated at Mulwala State School. His father was Aboriginal activist and community leader

William Cooper William Cooper may refer to: Business *William Cooper (accountant) (1826–1871), founder of Cooper Brothers * William Cooper (businessman) (1761–1840), Canadian businessman * William Cooper (co-operator) (1822–1868), English co-operator * Wil ...

. Lynch Cooper married Eva Christian, daughter of Alfred William Christian and Annie Laid née Bruce, of Jeparit on 11 February 1939 at the Methodist Church,

Footscray, Victoria Footscray ( ) is an inner-city Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong Loca ...

References

Links

1933 - Wangaratta FC & Border United FC team photo1934 - Wangaratta FC & Rutherglen FC team photos
Australian male sprinters Indigenous Australian track and field athletes Stawell Gift winners 1900s births 1971 deaths People from the Riverina Athletes from New South Wales 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-athletics-bio-stub