Ian Browne, also known as "Joey" Browne is a former Australian track cyclist who along with Tony Marchant won the 2000 m tandem event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Unusually tall and strongly built for a cyclist, Browne had little formal training and won his first Australian title in 1953 in the 10 mile event. Browne did not team up with Marchant until early in 1956 and they promptly won the tandem event at the national championships to earn national selection. The pair were eliminated after losing their first two races but were given a reprieve when the Soviet Union pair were hospitalised in a crash and forced to withdraw. Thereafter Marchant and Browne were unbeaten and progressed to an unlikely Olympic gold. Browne's combination with Marchant was broken after the Olympics when the latter retired. In 1958, Browne won the 10 mile event at the national titles and went on to win the event at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Browne went on to compete in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics in the tandem event, both times with new partners, but both times he was eliminated in the repechage round. 

June 22nd, 1931 in Melbourne  /  Died:   Jun 24th, 2023