Joshua Ross (b. 1981) excelled at athletics as a child, but didn't take up sprinting in earnest until 2000, inspired by watching the Sydney Olympics on television. His rise to prominence has been stunning: he won the prestigious Stawell Gift in 2003 and again in 2005, when he became only the second man in the race's 127-year history to win from scratch. At the 2003 Stroud Gift he entered the brick throwing event, and won that. At the 2004 Athens games he ran anchor in the men's 4x100m relay team - the first Australian 4x100 team ever to reach an Olympic final. Ross performed strongly in the 2004 World Championships - he made the 100m semi-finals, and helped the 4x100m team to take fifth place in the final - and won the 100m at the 2006 Australian Championships, ahead of Patrick Johnson and Matt Shirvington. He is currently fifth in the all-time Australian 100m rankings.
