Wood, Mervyn Thomas

▪ 2007

      Australian rower and police commissioner (b. April 30, 1917, Sydney, Australia—d. Aug. 19?, 2006, Australia), won three medals at four Olympic Games over a 20-year career; he was the only person to carry the Australian national flag in the opening ceremony twice (1952 and 1956), and in 2000 he helped carry the Olympic torch before the opening of the Sydney Games. Wood was a member of the men's eights that finished fifth at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Following the cancellation of the 1940 and 1944 Games because of World War II, he captured a gold medal (single sculls) in 1948, a silver (single sculls) in 1952, and a bronze (double sculls) in 1956. He won 4 golds and a silver in three Commonwealth Games, as well as 12 Australian national titles, and in 1948 he was named Australian Athlete of the Year. Wood, a policeman from 1935, was appointed New South Wales commissioner in 1976, but he resigned in June 1979 amid a highly publicized corruption scandal. Charges were brought against him in 1989, but in 1991 they were stayed permanently, in part because of the excessive delay.

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