Tim was born in Mirboo North and grew up in Gippsland. He first came under serious notice in January 1989 when, at just 16 years of age, he jumped two metres at Olympic Park in Melbourne. In March of that year, he won the National under 16 high jump in Brisbane with 1.97m. Tim had a good sporting background with early interest in him as a potential basketball player as he quickly grew to 1.99m in height. Although Tim grew up a diehard Hawthorn supporter, his father Jim had played Australian Rules football for Essendon between 1962 and 1965. Sandro Bisetto was Tim’s coach from 1988 onwards and continued to guide him throughout his international career. Tim steadily improved and at the Australian All-Schools in Adelaide in December 1989, he won the under 17 high jump with 2.16m and added a silver in the under 19s with 2.11m. Tim won the 1990 National under 20 title at 2.20m, complementing it with a bronze in the open event with 2.15m. He gained selection for his first international team—the World Juniors in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. There, Tim won the silver medal with a stunning personal best of 2.29m, behind Yugoslavian Dragutin Topic’s world junior record of 2.37m.
In Sydney in 1991, Tim won both senior (2.30m) and under 20 (2.20m) National titles. Despite still being shy of his 18th birthday, Tim was selected for both the World Indoors in Seville, Spain and World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. In Seville, Tim jumped 2.28m to finish eighth. In Tokyo, he could only clear 2.24m and did not qualify for the final. A year on, Tim retained his national title with 2.33m and was selected for both the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain and the World Juniors in Seoul, Korea. In Barcelona, five athletes cleared 2.34m, including Tim. On countback, the gold went to Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor, with the young Australian in a three-way tie for third. Until told by officials, Tim had no idea he had won an Olympic bronze medal. A month later, in Seoul, Tim won a second World Juniors silver with 2.31m behind Great Britain’s Steve Smith, who cleared 2.37m to equal the World Junior Record—a surprisingly similar scenario to two years earlier.
In 1993, the World Championships were held in Stuttgart, Germany, and Tim finished ninth with 2.28m after some controversial moments with the high jump officials. The following year, Tim went to his first Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada and claimed gold with 2.32m, this time turning the tables on Steve Smith—on countback. A few weeks later, he finished second in the IAAF World Cup in London with 2.28m, behind world record holder Sotomayor. The 1995 World Championships were held in Göteborg, Sweden, and after clearing 2.29m in the qualifying round, Tim could only manage 2.25m in the final to finish in equal eighth spot. The 1996 Olympic Games were held in Atlanta, USA, and the high jump was again a great highlight. Tim cleared 2.32m, the same as the fourth placegetter, but he was relegated to seventh on the countback. The 1997 World Indoors in Paris saw Tim miss the final after only clearing 2.24m, but in August, Tim was back. In excellent form at the World Championships in Athens, Greece, he cleared 2.35m for a bronze medal, losing silver only on countback.
At the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tim worked hard to try to retain his title and cleared 2.28m to win bronze behind England’s Dalton Grant’s 2.31m. Tim was back in Seville in 1999 at his last World Championships, but 2.26m was not enough for him to make the final. The following year, at Sydney’s home Olympics, Tim missed the final when he could only manage 2.24m. Tim then called time on his career—one that left him unquestionably as one of his country’s finest ever high jumpers. He had represented Australia in 15 major teams and was decorated with Athletics Australia’s prestigious Edwin Flack Award for 2003. During his career, he won seven National senior championships and seven Victorian titles. In 2019, his personal best of 2.36m, set in Melbourne in 1997, remained the National record, having been equalled 21 years later by Brandon Starc.
Paul Jenes OAM
Athletics Australia Statistician
President ATFS
Acknowledgements:
IAAF Statistics Handbooks for World Outdoor, Indoor, Junior Championships, and World Cups.
Mark Butler; Athletics Australia’s Season Guides; Athletics Australia Handbook of Records and Results; Athletics Australia’s Historical Records: Peter Hamilton, Paul Jenes, Fletcher McEwen, David Tarbotton; Athletics Olympics Statistics Books: Mark Butler; Athletics at the Commonwealth Games: Rob Whittingham, Paul Jenes, Stan Greenberg.