Doctor to share stories from lifetime in sport

SPECIALIST sport and exercise physician Dr Peter Larkins will be the guest speaker at next month’s Ballarat Sportsmen’s Club dinner.

Well-known for his regular appearances on television, radio, and in newsprint on issues related to sport and health, Dr Larkins will draw on his lifetime of involvement in sport, from being a competitor and Olympian, to a medical practitioner and media personality.

The dinner will be held at the Ballarat Golf Club on July 2 from 6.30pm.

Despite his many and varied roles in sport, Dr Larkins said he is “still looking for his calling in life”.

He has always been involved in sport, having had his first competitive race at age three against his much older brother. Dr Larkins won this race.

He was the first ever Little Athlete at John Landy Field in Geelong in 1962 and subsequently became the first athlete to progress through from Little Athletics to Olympic track and field selection for the Montreal Games in 1976.

Dr Larkins holds the distinction of being selected in every Australian track and field team from 1975 until 1983 as a middle-distance runner and was national team captain in 1983.

His sporting life fuelled his interest in all aspects of human performance, including the physiology of fitness, nutrition, sports injury management and the mental application to achieve at the highest level.

According to Dr Larkins, those principles can be equally applied to sports performance or productivity and success in the workplace and life in general.

During his international sporting career, he completed university degrees in medicine and exercise physiology and also established the first solo sports physician practice in Australia.

He has been team physician for many sports including the Australian cricket team, lacrosse, triathlon and track and field teams, and was a medical officer in the AFL with Adelaide and Geelong.

Dr Larkins will be selling his latest book, The Healthy Hundred, on the night.

The book draws on his many years of experience to share 100 tips and lifestyle decisions that can influence the rate of biological aging.

It was runner up in its category in the Australian Business Book Awards in 2024.

RSVP to [email protected].