Peter MULLINS

Although Australian Peter Mullins made his only Olympic appearance as a decathlete, finishing sixth in the event at the 1948 Summer Games, he would become much better known at home and abroad as a basketball player. He began serious involvement in athletics as a pole vaulter at the age of 15 and soon graduated to the decathlon, in addition to his involvement in rugby (league and union), Australian rules football, swimming, tennis, hockey, and water polo. After breaking the Australian record for the decathlon in 1946 by almost 1000 points, he captured medals in state and national championships in multiple track and field events on the road to being selected for the 1948 Games, as a national championship for decathlon had failed to resume following World War II. Although he placed out of the podium in London, he did manage to set a new Australian record with a score of 6739 by contemporary standards (6334 today).

Following the 1949 Australian national championships, where he picked up one gold and two bronze medals, Mullins fame as a basketball star began to grow. He was a member of three championship-winning squads in his home nation before travelling to North America and attending Washington State University on a track scholarship, where he received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in physical education in 1953 and 1954 respectively. During these years he was both an athlete and basketball player for the school and, in 1955, he joined the University of British Columbia as a staff member and coach in the School of Physical Education. He continued his role as a player by joining a senior league and helped represent Canada at the 1959 World Basketball Tournament in Chile.

After his playing days were over Mullins earned his doctorate in education in 1961 and, in 1963, became the head coach of UBC’s basketball team. By his 1982 retirement he had become the school’s longest-serving basketball coach and had captured the Western Canadian and Canadian university championships seven (1963, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1972, and 1975) and two (1970 and 1972) times respectively. On the national level he coached Canada’s 1970 basketball entry to the World Student Games. Although he remained with UBC as a teacher and counselor for several more years, he eventually retired to Australia and died in April 2012 following a fall that broke his hip. He was made a member of the BC Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Dr. Peter Mullins Trophy is awarded annually by Canadian Interuniversity Sport to the men’s basketball rookie of the year.

Personal Best: Dec – 6334 (1948).