World champion cyclist Rohan Dennis charged with killing his wife after ‘running over Olympian mum-of-two with car’

11 months ago 72

A FORMER world champion cyclist has been charged over the death of his Olympian wife after allegedly running her over with a car.

Rohan Dennis, 33, was arrested after the alleged collision and was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, driving without due care and endangering life.

Rohan Dennis has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving after he allegedly run his wife over with a car[/caption]

Melissa Dennis was taken to hospital but later died from her injuries[/caption]

Just six days ago Rohan posted a tragic last snap with his wife and kids[/caption]

The mum-of-two, Melissa Dennis, was rushed to hospital with serious injuries and died shortly after.

The 32-year-old was struck by the vehicle on a tree-lined street in the inner northern suburb of Medindie, South Australia, at around 8pm on Saturday.

The Dennis’ neighbour told 9News the pair had just moved into their Avenel Gardens Road home a week ago with their two young children.

A fellow neighbour called the incident “tragic” and said: “We’ve never seen such a sight on this street. It was quite horrific to see.”

Only six days before the alleged incident Rohan posted a tragic final photo of the family together in front of a Christmas tree.

The caption read: “Merry Christmas from our family to yours”.

The couple were both top-level cyclists, with Rohan taking home an Olympic silver medal in 2012 and a bronze in 2020.

Melissa missed out on a medal in 2012 by just fractions of a second but won a team gold for the women’s pursuit at the 2015 World Championship – breaking the event’s record in the process.

Team GB cycling legend Laura Kenny posted a tribute to Melissa, saying: “A truly lovely person. RIP Mel.”

In 2015 Rohan set a record for the longest distance travelled in an hour and started the Tour de France in pole position after winning the stage one individual time trial with a record-breaking pace.

Despite being off to a flying start Rohan finished the tour out of the top 100.

He was awarded the Sir Hubert Opperman medal and trophy for Australia’s best all-round cyclist for 2015.

Rohan announced his retirement at the end of the 2023 season through a heartfelt Instagram post, dedicating a large part to write a message to his wife.

The post read: “Thank you Melissa Dennis for supporting me throughout my entire professional career, all while raising two of the best kids I could ever ask for.”

Melissa’s death marked the 114th life lost on the state’s roads this year.

This is a significant increase from the 71 who had died at the same time last year.

Following the charges Rohan has been bailed to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on March 13.