# Melissa Hoskins

Melissa Hoskins (24 February 1991 – 31 December 2023) was an Australian track and road racing cyclist. She topped the general classification in the 2012 Tour of Chongming Island. She was a member of the Australian track cycling team pursuit team that finished in fourth place at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Hoskins announced her retirement from professional cycling on 2 May 2017.
Hoskins died on 31 December 2023 after being struck by a vehicle allegedly driven by her husband, cyclist Rohan Dennis.

## Personal life

Hoskins was born on 24 February 1991 in Kalamunda, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. She attended Walliston Primary School before going to high school at Carmel Adventist College in Western Australia. She then went to Murdoch University, where she pursued a Bachelor of Sports Science.
In February 2018, she married cyclist Rohan Dennis, and gave birth to a son at the end of that year. The family split their time between Girona, La Massana, and Adelaide. They subsequently had another child.

## Cycling career
### Track

As a track cyclist, Hoskins specialised in endurance events. She started track cycling when she was fifteen years old following participation at a Western Australian Institute of Sport talent identification event. She started competitive cycling when she was 16 years old. Her specialist event was the Team Pursuit. She was awarded a cycling scholarship by the Australian Institute of Sport and the Western Australian Institute of Sport. She was a member of Northern Districts Cycling Club. She was coached by Gary Sutton and Darryl Benson. Her primary training base was in Adelaide, with a secondary base in Varese, Italy.
Hoskins finished 3rd in the team pursuit at the 2011 Beijing World Cup in Beijing. She finished 1st in the team pursuit, 2nd in the omnium, and 3rd in the individual pursuit at the 2011 Australian Track Nationals in Sydney. She finished 2nd in the team pursuit at the 2012 Track World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. She finished 1st in the team pursuit and 4th in the individual pursuit at the 2012 Australian Track Nationals in Sydney, Australia. In the team pursuit event at the 2012 Summer Olympics Test Event in London, her team set the fastest time in the event on the opening day of the competition. She was the team's leader in the event but her gate failed to open properly. Her team eventually earned a gold in the event. She earned a silver medal in the scratch race at the 2012 World Championships.
Hoskins competed for Australia with teammates Annette Edmondson and Josephine Tomic in the women's team pursuit at the 2012 Summer Olympics. They finished in fourth place after losing to Canada in the bronze final. Hoskins competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. At the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Hoskins was part of the Australian quartet that won gold in the team pursuit, defeating a Great Britain team in the final that had taken the rainbow jersey in the previous four World Championships and that had been undefeated in major competitions during that period. They also broke the world record which had been set by the British in 2013 at altitude in Aguascalientes City by nearly three seconds. She subsequently described this performance as the defining result of her career.
Hoskins returned to the Olympic Games as part of the Australian team in the team pursuit at the 2016 Summer Olympics: the team entered the Olympics as one of the expected challengers for the gold medal. They were set back three days before the start of competition when four of their five selected riders – Hoskins, Ashlee Ankudinoff, Amy Cure and Georgia Baker – crashed when training on the Rio Olympic Velodrome. Although she avoided major injury, Hoskins was on crutches until the eve of the qualifying round. She rode in qualification and the first round proper but was dropped for the final, where Australia secured fifth overall.

### Road

Hoskins also competed in road races and began racing professionally with the GreenEDGE–AIS team in 2012, specialising in sprint finishes on the flat. She won the first and third stages and topped the general classification in the 2012 Tour of Chongming Island, a category 2.1 stage race, and followed this by finishing second in the one-day Tour of Chongming Island World Cup.

## Death

On 30 December 2023, Hoskins was struck by a grey ute on Avenel Gardens Road, Medindie, an inner northern suburb of Adelaide, and died a day later from her injuries in hospital. She was 32. Police arrested her husband Rohan Dennis, charging him with causing death by dangerous driving, driving without due care, and endangering life.
In December 2024, Dennis pleaded guilty to an aggravated charge of creating a likelihood of harm and is currently awaiting sentencing. Prosecutors dropped the initial charges of causing death by dangerous driving, driving without due care, and endangering life, acknowledging that Dennis acted recklessly but without intent to harm Hoskins.

## Major results
### Track
#### 2008

    1st Team pursuit, National Track Championships
    2nd Keirin, National Junior Track Championships

#### 2009

    1st Team pursuit, UCI Juniors Track World Championships
    1st Team pursuit, National Track Championships
    National Junior Track Championships
       1st Keirin
       3rd Individual pursuit
       3rd Points race

#### 2010

    Oceania Track Championships
       1st Omnium
       3rd Points race

#### 2011

    3rd Team pursuit, 2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Beijing

#### 2012

    1st Scratch, 2011–12 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, London
    UCI Track Cycling World Championships
       2nd Scratch
       2nd Team pursuit
    2nd Team pursuit, 2012–13 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Glasgow

#### 2013

    2nd Team pursuit, UCI Track Cycling World Championships
    3rd Team pursuit, 2013–14 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Aguascalientes

#### 2014

    2nd Team pursuit, 2014–15 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, London
    3rd Team pursuit, UCI Track Cycling World Championships

#### 2015

    1st Team pursuit, UCI Track Cycling World Championships
    1st Points race, National Track Championships

### Road
#### 2009

    1st Criterium, National Junior Road Championships
    1st Pemberton Classic

#### 2010

    2nd Noosa GP

#### 2011

    1st Ronde van Appelscha
    1st Profronde van Surhuisterveen
    1st Wielerdag van Monster
    1st Begijnendijk
    1st Boutersem
    1st Stage 2 Tour de Feminin-O cenu Českého Švýcarska
    2nd Le Bizet
    2nd Wielerdag Zoeterwoude
    2nd Ronde van Leiderdorp
    3rd Ronde van Luyksgestel
    7th GP Comune di Cornaredo

#### 2012

    National Road Championships
       1st Under-23 criterium
       2nd Criterium
    1st Overall Tour of Chongming Island
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 1 & 3
    1st Overall Bay Classic Series
    1st Rond van Uitgeest
    2nd Team time trial, UCI Road World Championships
    2nd Tour of Chongming Island World Cup
    6th EPZ Omloop van Borsele

#### 2013

    1st Overall Bay Classic Series
       1st Williamstown Criterium
    3rd Team time trial, UCI Road World Championships
    3rd Open de Suède Vårgårda TTT

#### 2014

    2nd Team time trial, UCI Road World Championships
    3rd Ronde van Gelderland
    5th Tour of Chongming Island World Cup
    6th Overall Ladies Tour of Qatar
    6th Dwars door de Westhoek
    10th Road race, Commonwealth Games

#### 2015

    1st Mountains classification The Women's Tour
    2nd Overall Santos Women's Tour
       1st Stages 2 & 4