Walter (Wal) James Chisholm (19 May 1915 – 28 December 2005) was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1915, and moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1936 to pursue his cycling career.
World War II put an end to his sporting exploits and he joined the army in 1941.
After serving as a commando overseas, he returned and married Yvonne Patricia (Pat) McLaughlin, whom he'd met at a dance in Pat's hometown of Echuca in Northern Victoria.
He always had a keen interest in athletics, in particular the pole vault, so he set about learning as much as he could about the event, leading to him coaching the local kids in the Mentone area, adjacent to Cheltenham.
He was coach to: Ironically, his son Robert Chisholm was his last Australian champion in 1984.