Sporting Treasures

Overview

Sporting greats and the stories that have shaped their careers form an important thread, not only in our sporting history but also in the broader story of the nation.

Rather than depicting our sporting history via athletes in competition, this stamp issue presents items associated with four of our leading athletes during the height of their sporting career. The objects shown in the stamp designs form part of state and national museum collections.

The stamps represent cycling, motorsport, tennis and wheelchair racing through champions from across the past century: Hubert Opperman, Jack Brabham, Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Kurt Fearnley.

Technical specifications

Issue date: 7 February 2023
Issue withdrawal date: 1 September 2023
Denomination: $1.20 x 4
Stamp design: Tim Hancock
Product design: Tim Hancock
Paper: gummed: Tullis Russell 104gsm Red Phos.
Paper: self-adhesive: Securpost C-Print 100 P8P Non-Phos
Printer: RA Printing
Printing process: Offset lithography
Stamp size (mm): 26 x 37.5
Minisheet size (mm): tba
Perforations: 14.6 x 13.86
Sheet layout: Module of 50
FDI Postmark: East Melbourne VIC 3002
FDI withdrawal date: 8 March 2023

Stamps in this issue

$1.20 Jack Brabham’s BT23A-1 prototype

Jack Brabham (1926–2014) was Australia’s greatest Formula One (F1) driver. He was the first Australian to achieve the honour of F1 world champion, winning in 1959, 1960 and 1966, and the only F1 champion to win in a car of his own construction – the BT19 in which he was victorious in 1966. Brabham put his formidable driving skill to the test in 126 Grand Prix during his time behind the wheel, winning 14 of these races, and placed second in 10 of these and third in seven.

On the heels of his 1966 F1 win, Brabham designed with fellow Australian Ron Tauranac the Repco-Brabham Tasman BT23A-1 prototype in 1967. Brabham raced it in the 1967 Tasman series, contested across six races held in New Zealand and Australia between 7 January and 6 March 1967. This prototype, shown in the stamp, led directly to the BT24A model that won the F1 in 1967, driven by Brabham team driver Denny Hulme. The BT23A-1, the only car of this model to exist, is held in the collection of the National Museum of Australia.

The stamp photograph is courtesy National Museum of Australia.

$1.20 Evonne Goolagong Cawley’s racquet

The impressive Evonne Goolagong Cawley (b. 1951) was the first Australian Indigenous player to compete in international tennis. The lightning fast yet graceful right-hander won seven Grand Slam tournaments through her international career – the Australian Open four times, successively across 1974–77, Wimbledon twice, in 1971 and 1980, and the French Open in 1971. She was runner-up at Wimbledon in 1972, 1975 and 1976, and won the women’s doubles with Peggy Michel in 1974. She also won in doubles titles in the Australian Open five times during her career on the court. She retired from competition in 1983.

The wooden Dunlop Maxply Fort racquet shown in the stamp is held in the collection of the National Museum of Australia, one of a number of items Goolagong Cawley donated to the museum, including three Wimbledon trophies and a second racquet. Goolagong Cawley used the Maxply Fort racquet, a popular model of tennis racquet, during the early 1970s.

The stamp photograph is courtesy National Museum of Australia.

$1.20 Hubert Opperman’s “Tour de France” model bike

Hubert Opperman (1904–1996) was Australian cycling royalty during the 1920s and 1930s, his appeal extending to Europe; he was voted Europe’s most popular sportsman in 1928. A highly disciplined endurance and competitive cyclist, “Oppy”, as he was known, counted among his numerous achievements the Australian Pro Road Championship in 1924, 1927 and 1929, and the Bol d’Or (Golden Bowl) 24-hour Paris in 1928. Perhaps at the top of his cycling achievements was winning the 1,162-kilometre Paris–Brest–Paris race in 1931, which he completed in 49 hours and 23 minutes, breaking all previous records.

Opperman and the Victorian bike company Malvern Star Cycles formed an enduring partnership, which began when, as a teen at the start of his cycling career, Opperman met Malvern Star proprietor Bruce Small. Establishing a Victorian team of competitive cyclists, Small became his coach and mentor, and Oppy raced the company’s bikes. The “Tour de France” model road bike was used Oppy when he set a world record for his 24-hour unpaced cycling on 5–6 October 1927, cycling from Mt Gambier to Melbourne (416 miles). This bike and two others ridden by Oppy are held in Museum Victoria’s collection.

The stamp photograph is courtesy Museums Victoria.

$1.20 Kurt Fearnley’s racing wheelchair

Since announcing his sporting ambition when he won silver at the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Gamess, Kurt Fearnley (b. 1981) has become a household name in Australia. Being born without a lower spine has not held Fearnley back during his 20-year career on the track and road. He competed at five Paralympic Games between 2000 and 2016 (Rio), won seven world championships, competed in more than 30 marathons (including in New York, London and Chicago), and completed this remarkable career in competition with a marathon win at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Fearnley used the racing wheelchair shown in the stamp design when he won gold in the marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Weighing just 7.8 kilograms, this three-wheeled racing wheelchair is held in the collection of the Australian Sports Museum.

The stamp photograph is by Nick Doolan.

View Media Release