Seven great NSW indigenous track and field athletes

8 July 2025

Seven great NSW indigenous track and field athletes

As we celebrate NAIDOC week around Australia, David Tarbotton profiles seven great NSW indigenous track and field athletes who have represented Australia as senior athletes.

BENN HARRADINE

(Watjabaluk/Wergia people of the Wimmera)

Born and raised in the Newcastle area, discus thrower Benn Harradine would go to compete at four Commonwealth Games and three Olympics. He also raised the Australian discus throw record on four occasions and held the mark from 2008 until 2023. He competed for the Macquarie Shores club, now Hunter Track and Field club. He won the Commonwealth Games title in 2010 and was an Olympic finalist in London. He won six National titles. During his career he spent time in Victoria and then in Queensland. His Dad, Ken Harradine, Benn’s coach for much of his career, still lives in the Hunter and coaches locally and across NSW.

JOSHUA ROSS

From the NSW Central Coast, Joshua Ross was a revelation in Australian sprinting just prior to the Athens Olympics. In 2003 he won the Stawell Gift off seven metres and was not on the radar for the Olympic team in 2004. In his first track race as a senior athlete in January 2004 he ran 10.37 in the 100m. He went on to win the national title in a PB 10.27 and clock a another PB of 10.22 at the Athens Olympics. He won the 2005 Stawell Gift of scratch, nine national sprint titles, went to two Olympics, four world championships, and ran on relays teams that made two Olympic and one world championships finals.

BEKI SMITH (nee LEE)

(Yuin people)

Olympic race walker Beki grew up in western Sydney and now lives in Canberra. After making her Australian debut in 2003 at the World Youth Championships, she would go on to represent Australia on seven occasions as a senior athlete. The highlight was the London Olympics. She also competed at the World Uni Games, Commonwealth Games, two world championships and two race walking cups. During her career she won three national titles. She remains closely involved in athletics.

TELAYA BLACKSMITH

(Warlpiri descent from the Northern Territory)

Born in Perth, Telaya Blacksmith, has grown up in the NT and NSW. Her journey in sport started when she was showing promise in year 4 in primary school in Dubbo. A specialist 100m sprinter and long jumper, she faced a challenge to qualify for the Paris Paralympics – she needed to transition to the 400m. Under coach Jacinta Doyle, she achieved this, going on to compete in Paris as an 16-year-old and making the 400m and long jump finals.

PERCY HOBSON

(Ngemba descent from NSW)

Raised in the NSW far west town of Cobar, Percy Hobson was the first Australian indigenous athlete to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games or Olympics. While in his teens, he won the high jump at the 1962 Empire Games in Perth with a leap of 2.11m. He trained by jumping over the clothesline in his backyard in Bourke and to receive good competition he had to travel to Sydney.

RAY BARRETT

(Wiradjuri people)

Raise in the Sutherland shire, Ray Barrett was the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Para-athlete to represent Australia, competing at the third Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in 1970 hosted in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the fourth Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in 1974 hosted in Dunedin, New Zealand, he won gold, silver and bronze medals in the wheelchair sprints. He competed at the 1972 Paralympic Games where he won bronze in the wheelchair 100m.

During his career he was a printer and electrical technician at the poker machine company. He was also an Athletics NSW technical official - timekeeper.

PETER KIRBY

(Wiradjuri people)

Peter Kirby, an Australian Paralympic arm amputee athlete won five medals in Athletics at the 1984 Paralympic Games in New York. From the NSW South Coast town of Bega, he played many sports. Rugby League great Phil Gould taught him at school, helping him to adjust his running style to compensate for his amputated right forearm.

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW

Image: Joshua Ross