Opperman, Sir Hubert Ferdinand

▪ 1997

      ("OPPY"), Australian cyclist and politician (b. May 29, 1904, Rochester, Victoria, Australia—d. April 18, 1996, Melbourne, Australia), dominated long-distance cycling in the 1920s and '30s before serving in the Australian Parliament. He began biking while a messenger boy, and after winning several local competitions he traveled to France, the centre of road racing. His legend was established while he competed in the 1928 Bol d'Or, a race in which the participants pedaled as far as possible in 24 hours. After two of Opperman's bicycles broke, a result, he claimed, of sabotage, he was forced to ride his translator's bike until the necessary repairs were made. His come-from-behind victory made headlines in Europe, and the French voted him Athlete of the Year. In 1931 he won the Paris-Brest-Paris event, a nonstop 1,160-km (720-mi) race. During his cycling career, he set over 100 world records, some of which remained unbroken. After his retirement from competitive cycling in 1943, the Australian Liberal Party persuaded him to enter politics, and he was elected to Parliament in 1949. Opperman held several appointments, and as minister for immigration (1963-1966) he was instrumental in ending the country's immigration policy that discriminated against nonwhites. In 1967 he left Parliament to serve as Australia's first high commissioner to Malta, and the following year he was knighted. His autobiography, Pedals, Politics, and People, was published in 1977. Opperman, who continued to cycle after his retirement, died while on his exercise bike.

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