Colin Silcock-Delaney wins five medals at Australian Masters Athletics Championships

Port Campbell's Colin Silcock-Delaney is no stranger to success at the Australian Masters Athletics Championships.

The 90-year-old returned from the 2023 edition in Sydney earlier this month, his 40th appearance at the event, with another swag of medals. Competing in the male 90 age group, he won gold in the 1500-metre race, silver in the 200m, 400m and 800m and clinched bronze in the 100m dash. Silcock-Delaney was pleased with his efforts, mentioning that it was a familiar face who trumped him in the 200m, 400m and 800m races. "The guy who beat me, David Carr from Perth, I've never beaten him in 40 years of the Australian Masters track and field championships in the capital cities each year," he said. 

The seasoned runner, who is a veteran of 100 marathons and a life member of the Melbourne Marathons Spartans Club, admitted he no longer runs as far as he used to. "I just do the sprints now," he said. "I was on the committee of the Melbourne Marathon for years, I did 25 Melbourne (Marathons) but I'm only doing 100 metres to 1500 metres now. 

"You've got to be sensible as you get older." Outside of running, Silcock-Delaney is kept busy with his involvement in various volunteer organisations and has a Country Fire Association dinner coming up. He was a CFA member for 50-plus years at Geelong and Cobden and has been involved with Cobden's St Vincent de Paul for 40 years. "I'm cutting back on a lot of things now at my old age but you've got to use it or you lose it," he said

Matt Hughes
The Standard
March 21 2023