Bill Roycroft grew up on a dairy farm and learnt to ride horses there.
18 Facts About Bill Roycroft
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Bill Roycroft went on to compete in four more Olympics from 1964 to 1976, winning bronze medals in team eventing at the 1968 Mexico City and 1976 Montreal Games.
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Bill Roycroft later served as coach of the Australian eventing team.
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Bill Roycroft was born as one of seven children on 17 March 1915 in Melbourne and grew up in Flowerdale.
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Bill Roycroft's parents ploughed with horses in their dairy farm.
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Bill Roycroft rode throughout his childhood, racing his horses over tree branches with his friend Lawrence Morgan, later an Olympic equestrian competitor.
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Bill Roycroft then moved back to Flowerdale, where he did odd jobs on local farms while competing in riding.
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Bill Roycroft signed up as a soldier when World War II broke out, and married Mavis during his first substantial leave from duty.
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Bill Roycroft trained them in riding from an early age while Mavis would select the horses.
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Bill Roycroft completed the cross-country section, and was then airlifted to hospital.
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Consequently, Bill Roycroft left his hospital bed against his doctors' advice to finish the event the next day, allowing his team to win the gold medal.
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Bill Roycroft competed at the next four Olympics, winning bronze medals in the team events at the 1968 Mexico City and 1976 Montreal Games, alongside his son Wayne.
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Bill Roycroft was the Australian flag bearer at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics; Wayne would do the same thing 16 years later.
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Bill Roycroft was the equestrian team manager at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and later the national coach of the Australian eventing team; Wayne succeeded him in the latter role.
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Bill Roycroft was one of eight Australian flag-bearers of the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
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Bill Roycroft died in hospital at Camperdown on 29 May 2011, aged 96.
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Bill Roycroft was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1969 New Year Honours for services in Sporting and International Spheres, and received an Order of Merit from the Australian Olympic Committee in 1978.
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Bill Roycroft received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and a Centenary Medal in 2001.