Ronald Jonker was born in Amsterdam in 1944 before emigrating to Australia in 1960, living in Seaton, a suburb of Adelaide. One year later Jonker began a career in cycling, winning the Australian amateur cycling championship in Perth. He then decided to become an Australian citizen, making him eligible for selection to the Olympic team. Jonker then finished sixth in a final selection race, also in Perth, to earn himself a spot on the national team. In 1968 he went to the Tokyo Olympics, where he competed in the road race but did not finish the course. Two years later, however, he won gold in the tandem with Gordon Johnson at the British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland. Jonker’s nephew Patrick also represented Australia at the Olympics in cycling.
Australia