Reg Spiers

Who is Reg Spiers?

Reginald "Reg" Spiers is a former leading Australian athlete who competed in the javelin throw at the 1962 Commonwealth Games before his conviction on drug smuggling charges.

Born in Adelaide, Spiers, who grew to be over two metres tall and strongly built, took up javelin and became one of the leading javelin throwers in Australia while still a teenager, placing third in the 1960/61 Australian Track and Field Championships and second in 1961/62.

His results led to his qualification for the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Western Australia, where he came fifth with a best throw of 69.70 metres.

Spiers continued to compete but his performances during the 1963/64 Australian summer were not enough to gain admission to the 1964 Australian Olympic team so Spiers travelled to England in an attempt to qualify during the English summer. Unsuccessful and penniless by the end of the season, Spiers enlisted a fellow athlete to help him build a man-sized wooden box, in which he then air-freighted himself back to Australia. Referred to as having "heroic - albeit borderline delusional gumption" for his actions, Spiers eventually made it to Perth, although nearly dehydrating on the runway in Mumbai.