Born Jubbulpore, India
29 October 1931
Eric Pearce was the first Australian hockey player to take part in four Olympic Games, competing in Melbourne (1956), Rome (1960), Tokyo (1964) and Mexico City (1968).
He returned with a bronze medal from Tokyo and a silver medal from Mexico City, where he was given the honour of being Australia’s flag-bearer at the closing ceremony.
A powerfully-built centre-forward with great courage and tenacity to complement his uncanny goalscoring ability, he was regarded as possibly the finest player to have represented Australia until his retirement from top-class hockey in 1968.
Pearce carved holes in opposing defences with his speed and agility, was able to trap the ball on either side of his body with unerring skill and deceive defenders with dexterous dribbling.
He had the distinction of scoring both goals when Australia beat the powerful Pakistan side for the first time with a 2-1 victory in Melbourne in 1964.
His biggest goal tally in an international match was achieved at the 1960 Rome Olympics when he scored all of Australia’s goals in an 8-1 avalanche against Japan.
In all four of his Olympic appearances, his team-mates included at least one of his four-hockey-playing brothers.
At State level, Pearce was the first WA player to be selected for the colts and seniors in one year. He played in 12 Australian senior championship carnivals and WA won seven of them, thanks largely to his goalscoring prowess.
In December 1985, Eric Pearce was the only hockey player out of 140 sporting greats included into the Sports Australia Hall of Fame as foundation members.