Cycling champion Rohan Dennis charged over Olympian wife’s death in car incident

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A former world champion cyclist has been charged over the death of his wife after she was struck by a pick-up truck outside their home in Adelaide.

Melissa Hoskins, a two-time Olympic cyclist, was rushed to hospital with serious injuries after she was hit by a vehicle on Saturday evening but died of her injuries.

Her husband, Rohan Dennis, who has previously won a silver and bronze medal in the Olympics, has since been arrested and charged with causing death by dangerous driving, driving without due care and endangering life.

The Australian couple, who had both retired from professional sports, married in 2018 and shared two children. In his most recent social media post just six days before the alleged incident, Dennis posted a picture of the family celebrating Christmas Day, with the caption reading “Merry Christmas from our family to yours”.

Before announcing her retirement in 2017, Ms Hoskins had competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics on the track in the team pursuit and was in the squad that won the 2015 world title in the event.

"Melissa described her team pursuit gold medal at the 2015 world championships as the highlight of her career but for the rest of us, the highlight was just having her around,” AusCyling chief executive Marne Fechner said in a statement Monday.

“Although she retired in 2017, her presence as an alumnus of the sport has been felt and appreciated by many in the cycling and riding community.”

Meanwhile, Dennis won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and took home the bronze medal in the men’s individual time trial at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

This followed his success in the London Olympics in 2012 where he won the silver medal in team pursuit and his two-time success at the world champion title.

He has been bailed to appear before Adelaide magistrates court on 13 March, while police released a statement appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

“A woman has died and a man has been arrested following a crash at Medindie last night,” the police statement read. “Just after 8pm on Saturday 30 December, police and emergency services were called to Avenel Gardens Road after reports that a woman had been hit by a car.

“A 32-year-old Medindie woman suffered serious injuries and was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for treatment. Sadly, she died in hospital overnight.

“Major crash officers attended the scene along with detectives from Eastern District CIB to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident.

“The driver is known to the woman. Following an investigation, a 33-year-old Medindie man has been arrested and charged with causing death by dangerous driving, driving without due care and endangering life.”