Russel, Denise and Neville together in celebration of Peter Norman Day, at the statue unveiling in honour of the 1968 Olympic sprinter in Melbourne October 2019.
TeamTaib is mourning the passing of Neville Sillitoe (OAM) who passed away this week aged 96.
In Russel’s words:
“My athletics mentor for the past decade, Neville was the first person to encourage me to continue running, and would challenge me equally as he would guide me. Like so many others, Neville had a significant role in my development and hugely influenced me wanting to purse athletics.
He would always call to ask how I was going and I knew that I could always call him to ask him anything.
Stubborn yet caring, harsh but fair. Shared great insights and stories. A great man.
Wish we could have done one more Sillitoe Special, training session followed by Hungry Jacks!
Cheers to 96 of the best”
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Neville Sillitoe, was a well-known figure in the Australian athletics scene, is Australia’s greatest sprint coach, coaching numerous Olympic and Commonwealth games representatives. Neville had an amazing ability to uncover talented junior sprinters, and guide them into Champions. Some of his biggest names include Peter Norman, Denise Boyd, and Gary Holdsworth.
Vale Neville John Sillitoe OAM (1925 – 2021).