![Ian Davies setting off on his basketball career. Picture file Ian Davies setting off on his basketball career. Picture file](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/198551236/758400c8-d872-4353-a786-6149a6268a88.jpg/r0_0_1824_1765_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Two Tasmanians renowned for hitting heights have been recognised with the induction of basketballer Ian Davies and trampoline gymnast Jack Penny into their state's sporting hall of fame.
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Penny said he was proud of the recognition.
"I feel incredibly honoured and humbled to be inducted into the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame alongside so many incredible Tasmanian athletes," he said.
"This award would not have been possible without the support of everyone in the gymnastics community over the past two decades."
These are the pair's indictments:
Ian Davies
With awe-inspiring athleticism and deadly three-point range, Ian Davies set the mould for the modern Australian basketball star, inspiring the golden generation that followed.
The son of Carlton and Longford footballer Fred Davies helped put the Australian Boomers on the map, outshining more famous opposition and leading all scorers at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, averaging 30 points per game in the tournament.
He also competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Games as well as the 1982 and 1986 FIBA World Championships, in a career that saw him represent Australia on 81 occasions.
On the domestic front he started his NBL career in 1980 with the new franchise Launceston Casino City and the following year led them to their one and only NBL Championship. Finishing the season in fourth position and playing the highly-rated Brisbane Bullets in the first final, Davies led the team to a two-point victory before defeating Nunawading in the final.
He went on to play 252 games in the NBL for teams all across Australia. Starting in 1982, he played four years for the Newcastle Falcons, before a move to the Geelong Supercats in 1986 and then the Sydney Kings from 1988-90. Davies helped forge a path that many young Australians now follow, playing US college basketball with Graceland University from 1974-78.
Davies, who died in November, 2013, was inducted to the NBL (2001) and Basketball NSW (2017) Halls of Fame.
![Jack Penny at Launceston PCYC in 2013. Picture by Paul Scambler Jack Penny at Launceston PCYC in 2013. Picture by Paul Scambler](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/198551236/f070ea91-f504-4748-8f66-bea1ade5977a_rotated_90.JPG/r0_757_2000_2633_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Jack Penny
After participating at the highest level in Trampoline Gymnastics for 17 years, Jack Penny retired from the sport as a competitive athlete in 2017. He represented Australia 20 times in events including the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, World Age Group Championships, World Cups and World Championships.
Penny's first world age championships were in 2005 in the Netherlands, before his senior world championship debut in 2010 in France where he finished fifth in the double mini tramp.
The 2006 Gymnastics Australia athlete of the year established numerous Tasmanian records and competed at the 2013, '14, '15 and '17 world championships under national coach and former world champion, Brett Austine.
![Jack Penny in action. Picture file Jack Penny in action. Picture file](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/198551236/ba35930d-bd65-4f9b-9299-b92f7f0f434a.JPG/r0_0_1365_1921_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Penny performed a personal best at the final Olympic Games trial event at the 2016 Australian championships, qualifying first and finishing second behind South Australian Blake Gaudry and was a member of the Australian Shadow Olympic Squad for the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
In his final event at the 2017 world championships in Sofia, Penny finished eighth in the men's synchronised trampoline.
He exemplifies qualities that have kept him involved in the sport through a variety of mediums, including obtaining a FIG judges accreditation, which sees him judging at international events since 2016; becoming heavily involved in administration through the Gymnastics Tasmania Board, including becoming president of Gymnastics Tasmania in 2022 and is a member of the Olympic advisory committee.
Penny has not only been a trailblazer for the sport of gymnastics in Tasmania, but also a role model and leader in sportsmanship for Australian athletes.
Penny's impact and reputation for sporting behaviour, fairness and encouragement reaches far beyond the Tasmanian gymnastics community.
A personal tribute to Ian Davies from Longford school friend Neil Kearney will appear in The Sunday Examiner.