Joey Browne

Ian Browne took up cycling at the age of four, but did not start entering competitions until his teenage years. His first major success came at the 1953 Australian Championships, where he won the 10 mile, but his most significant victory came when he was selected to represent his country, alongside Tony Marchant, in the tandem sprint, 2,000 metres event at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. In round one, they placed third behind South Africa and Germany, and then lost their repêchage against Czechoslovakia, thus ostensibly eliminating them from the tournament. In the third repêchage heat, however, the Soviet duo of Rostislav Vargashkin and Vladimir Leonov crashed and were hospitalized, leading the Australians to be selected to re-run the heat against Germany and the United States. This time, however, the Australians won and were never again defeated, besting South Africa in the quarter-finals, Italy in the semi-finals, and Czechoslovakia for the gold medal.

After their victory, Marchant retired, but Browne continued cycling for many years, winning another national 10 mile championship in 1958. That same year, he also took the title at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games, also competing in the sprint. He won another national title, this time in the 2,000 metres tandem, in 1960 with a new partner, Geoff Smith. At the 1960 Rome Olympics, however, they were only able to place 9th. His penultimate international stop was the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, where he took home bronze in the sprint, and then won the national tandem title again in 1964 with Daryl Perkins. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Browne won two more national tandem titles, in 1965 and 1968, with Gordon Johnson. The selectors, however, sent Johnson to the Mexico City Olympics with Hilton Clarke, and Browne retired shortly thereafter. By career he worked for the State Electricity Commission, but also served as an administrator in cycling, earning the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1994.