| Peter Mullins | |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Event: | Decathlon |
| Birth Date: | 9 July 1926 |
| Birth Place: | Bondi, New South Wales, Australia |
| Death Place: | Sydney, Australia |
Peter Mullins (9 July 1926 - 13 April 2012)[1] was an Australian decathlete and basketball player.[2] He competed in the decathlon at the 1948 Summer Olympics.[3] As a basketball player, he played at the 1959 FIBA World Championship on the Canadian team.[4] Mullins also coached the UBC Thunderbirds for twenty years, recording more than 330 wins.[5]
Mullins was born in Bondi, Australia in 1926.[6] Mullins played hockey, rugby, Australian rules football, table tennis and was swimmer.[6] At the age of fifteen, Mullins became a pole vaulter, before moving onto the decathlon.[3] He gained his diploma in physical education from the Sydney Teachers' College.[5]
In 1946, he broke the Australian record for the decathlon, and was selected to represent Australia in the event at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England.[3] He finished in sixth place at the Olympics,[6] setting another Australian record in the process.[3] At the 1949 Australian championships, Mullins won a gold and two bronze, before his focus moved to basketball.[3] [6]
After moving to the United States, Mullins was offered a scholarship at Washington State University.[3] [6] After graduating, he moved to Canada and became a member of staff at the University of British Columbia in 1955.[3] [6] Mullins then went to represent the Canadian basketball team at the 1959 FIBA World Championship.[3] He continued playing throughout the 1960s and 1970s, before retiring in 1982.[3] Mullins also coached the Canadian basketball team at the 1970 Summer Universiade in Turin, Italy.[3] His team at the University of British Columbia also won the Western Canadian University Championships seven times from 1963 to 1975.[6] [5]
Mullins returned to Australia, where he died in 2012, aged 85.[3] [7] He was inducted into the British Columbia Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Dr. Peter Mullins Trophy is award to the best rookie player in universities in Canada.[3] [5]