Lynch Cooper (Yorta Yorta)

Biography

The 1929 ‘Sprint Champion of the World’, Lynch Cooper is believed to be the first indigenous person to win a world title in any sport. A Yorta Yorta man was born in early 1905 at Moira Lake near Tocumwal and was educated at Mulwala State School. He was a gifted runner from an early age but did not run professionally until he turned 21.

Winning many local and state races in his early career, he aspired to win the Stawell Gift, commonly known as 'Australia's richest footrace' Lynch backed himself at 60 to 1 to win the Stawell Easter Gift that year - which he did, covering the 130 yards in 11.93 seconds. He won a prize of 250 pounds for his win but is reported to have won around 3000 pounds in bets he placed on himself.

He also had a strong passion for Indigenous rights thanks to the influence of his father, renowned Aboriginal rights campaigner, William Cooper, who established the Aborigines' Advancement League, famously petitioned the king of England for Indigenous rights, and also campaigned against Nazi Germany. Lynch acted as Secretary for his father's Victorian Aboriginal Society, and later in life became president of the Aborigines' Progressive Association.

Cooper continued to run for many years after this, although never again reaching the heights of his world title victory. After his retirement, he remained active in sport training a number of runners and football players.

He was an original inductee in the Aboriginal Sports Hall of Fame.