Australia’s first Olympic Gold Medalist
“Not many sons write a
book about their father,
but not too many people have a father
like legendary
sportsman Laurie Morgan.”
Australia’s first
Olympic Gold Medalist
by Warwick
Morgan
Laurie
Morgan, dual Olympic gold medalist, heavyweight boxing champion,
outstanding rower, tenacious Australian Rules footballer, successful racehorse
breeder and trainer, international polo player and victorious equestrian for
Australia, was an extraordinary man who fought his way to the top.
At
a time when Australian equestrians were unheard of, Laurie shipped his horse
from the western plains of NSW to England and won against the world’s best
riders. Due to his incredible determination the Australian equestrian team
performed brilliantly at the Rome Olympics: Australia won two gold medals and a
silver.
Laurie’s
boyhood ambition was to train and ride his own horse in the English Grand
National, which he did at the culmination of a triumphant steeplechasing
career.
His
trophies had barely gathered dust when Laurie took up the challenge of an
Australian outback cattle station. Living under canvas Laurie and his mustering
team slept in swags, trapped brumbies, mustered wild cattle, fought the tough
Territorians and extreme isolation, to turn Balbirini into a commercial cattle
station.
This
biography of one of Australia’s greatest all-round sportsmen is written by his
son, Warwick, himself an accomplished horseman, who tells his father’s story
and of his life with this remarkable man.
About the Author
Warwick
Morgan is a horseman. His earliest memories are of a horse stud in the Hunter
Valley in NSW and of a western NSW property near Condobolin. He recalls that he
probably started riding at the age five. He travelled to England with his
celebrated Father in 1954 when England was the centre of the equestrian world,
before returning to Australia to complete his schooling.
Warwick
managed sheep and cattle properties and horse studs around Australia before
moving to Tasmania where he and his wife continued property management before
starting their own bush riding business.
Warwick
is an accredited judge and has officiated at many horse shows including the
Sydney Royal Easter Show. He is a classifier for the Australian Stock Horse
Society. He has been an instructor for pony clubs and adult riders for 20
years. He now practices as an equine dentist.
I
have come to know Warwick as a mate during the time we have worked together to
produce this significant history of his remarkable father. Both Warwick and his
father would have been at home in the company of Banjo Paterson. Both men are
quintessential Australian blokes from a time when the image we held of
ourselves was that of the bushman, the horsebreaker.
Warwick
is a quietly spoken man that you sense would be at ease in an Irishman's
debate, should the need arise. Almost a man from another era, that of the tough
resourceful bushman. Yet he was also at home in the upper class English world
of riding to hounds, country estates and the British aristocracy.
Although
his father must have been a powerful and, one suspects, even a domineering
figure, Warwick has always remained his own man; the kind of bloke you would
want for a mate and definitely someone you would want on your side. There is no
sense that he ever lived in his famous father's shadow.
He
has vividly captured the extraordinary life of his remarkable father. He has
brought to his writing some of the same qualities that have served him well as
a horseman. Patience when required and hard work with careful research as is
required to get the best from a fine horse. This book should be read not only
for an insight into the story of Laurie Morgan but also for a view of an
Australia that is fast vanishing.
As
a writer Warwick takes the reader into the world that has been his whole life.
This is a sport biography written by an insider with direct knowledge of the
sport. It is a journey through the equestrian world in the company of an all-round
horseman.
Warren
Boyles
Editor,
Tasmania 40o South magazine
Australia’s first Olympic Gold Medalist
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