SYDNEY: Australian Olympic track cyclist and former world champion Melissa Hoskins has died after a car accident in the country’s south, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said on Monday.

       Australian media has widely reported that Hoskins’ husband and twice world individual time trial champion Rohan Dennis has been arrested and charged over her death.

       “The AOC has expressed the utmost sadness at the loss of Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins after the tragic events in Adelaide,” it said in a post on social media platform X. “Our condolences go to Melissa’s family, friends and the cycling community at this extremely difficult time.”

       Hoskins, 32, won gold in the team pursuit at the 2015 world championships and was a member of the Australian team at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics.

       A statement from the state police of South Australia released on Sunday said a 32-year-old woman died in the hospital after being hit by a car in an inner northern suburb of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia.

       Her husband Dennis, 33, is a highly regarded former professional who won the world time trials in 2018 and 2019, as well as a 2015 stage win in the Tour de France.

       South Australia Police said a 33-year-old man, widely reported to be Dennis, had been charged with “causing death by dangerous driving” and “driving without due care and endangering life”.

       The driver is known to the woman,“ police said, without confirming his name. A police spokesperson said they do not confirm the names of victims or accused involved in an incident.

       The international association of women cyclists said it was “shocked” to learn of Hoskins’s death.

       “We send our thoughts to those who love her, starting with her children,” CPA Women said.

       Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2024