Just days after his 90th birthday Lower Clarence athlete Tom Hancock set four Australian records against Masters competitors including records that hadn’t been broken in 30 years.

He first got involved in athletics when he joined the Melbourne High School Old Boys Athletic Club aged 15, and he has competed around the world for the past 75 years, setting multiple world records in his respective age divisions.

Mr Hancock was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for service to athletics in the 2018 Australia Day honours list.

The honour recognised his achievements as a throws coach discus, javelin, hammer and shot put for Australian teams, including coaching eight-time Australian discus champion Werner Reiterer to gold at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada.

When he turned 90 in June, Mr Hancock was awarded an honorary life membership to Bodyrock Fitness, Townsend, where he has trained several times a week for the past 19 years, by owner Tom Griffiths.

Last month Mr Hancock travelled to Melbourne to compete in the 90 95-year age division in the Throws Pentathlon against other Masters athletes at Caufield.

He told the Clarence Valley Independent he was looking forward to moving up to the 90-95-year age division as he would be one of the youngest competitors which would give him a better chance of winning events.

The Throws Pentathlon consists of five traditional track and field disciplines, hammer throw, shot put, discus, javelin, and weight throw.

Mr Hancock broke the Australian record of 7.31 metres in shot put, throwing 8.22 metres, in discus he threw 21.02 metres, eclipsing the previous record of 19.74 metres, in the weight throw Mr Hancock got close to the world record of 12 metres, throwing 11.25 metres and improving on the previous record of 10.17 metres.

He also set an Australian record in the Throws Pentathlon, amassing 3403 points, almost 300 points more than the previous record of 3114.

“Some of those Australian records were 30 years old,” he said.

“The guy that had the discus and shot-put records I was 60 when I saw him set those records and those were the records that I broke.

“I feel quite honoured because he was a very good athlete.

“In the weight throw I got close to the world record.

“I’ve never had a world record, and I would love one of those.”

Mr Hancock is already looking toward his next competition the Queensland state Masters titles on July 25 and 26.

“In Melbourne I only got three throws in each event, whereas when I’m going up to Queensland, because it’s a state championship you get six throws in each one,” he said.

“It puts a bit of pressure on you when you’ve only got three throws, and you’ve got five events to do.”

This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 10 July 2026.