Australian couple Melissa Hoskins and Rohan Dennis were once both competitive cyclists. Hoskins won the Olympics twice, once in 2012 and again in 2016. In 2015, she also won a world championship in France. She later retired in 2017. Dennis also won world championships and Olympic medals.
From social media posts, the couple seemed happy. For example, on Christmas, Dennis posted a photo on Instagram of himself with his wife and kids posing in front of a Christmas tree. He captioned the post, “Merry Christmas from our family to yours.”
@rohandennis via InstagramUnfortunately, just days after Christmas, everything has changed for this once happy family. On Saturday December 30, Hoskins was reportedly hit by a car near the couple’s home. She was taken to the hospital where she later died. To make the incident even worse, the car that hit her was driven by Dennis, and he has since been charged with his wife’s death. She was only 32 years old. A press release states the he was released on bail and scheduled to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on March 13, 2024.
The Australian Olympic Committee was the first to report Hoskins’ death. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), they shared a picture of Hoskins and wrote, “The AOC has expressed the utmost sadness at the loss of Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins after the tragic events in Adelaide. Our condolences go to Melissa’s family, friends and the cycling community at this extremely difficult time.”
The Daily Mail reports that on Tuesday January 2, 2024, Dennis left his home for the first time since the incident, but first, he sent two friends outside to plead with the media not to film his children while they grieve. Then the children left with the friends in a vehicle.
Two hours later, Dennis was seen leaving his home in another vehicle. He didn’t directly discuss the incident with the media, but he did ask them not to follow the vehicle he was in.
You can watch the video below for more about this tragic event.
