Australian Olympic cyclist Rohan Dennis has hit out at the media following the coverage of the death of his wife Melissa Hoskins.
Dennis, who competed in three Olympic games, received a 17-month suspended sentence after fellow Olympic cyclist Hoskins, who he has two children with, was killed by his car during an argument in December 2023.
He pleaded guilty to one aggravated count of creating the likelihood of harm and was sentenced to one year, four months and 28 days in jail, which was suspended for two years. He’s currently out on a good-behavior bond.
Hoskins died after jumping on the hood of Dennis’ car, as the now 35-year-old attempted to drive away from the scene, and Dennis was not held criminally responsible for her death.
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Following consistent negative media coverage around his involvement in the incident, Dennis took to Instagram on Monday to finally address the “false narrative” surrounding him.
"Not everyone is going to care about what was said to me by journalists or anyone since the accident with my wife," he wrote.
"But I don't care, this is simply to point out the false narrative which the media created about me for clicks.
"Yes it was an accident," he insisted.
"I loved Melissa and the last thing lever wanted was to hurt her, never in my life has any physical aggression crossed my mind in any disagreement with Melissa.
"The narrative which the media ran with was clear they wanted me to look like the husband who abused his wife.
"I have ALWAYS been against any sort of abuse against women and especially the one who gave birth to my children."
Dennis claims journalists went too far in aftermath of his wife's death
Dennis continued to reveal the full extent of the media witch hunt against him, recounting an incident just one day after Hoskins' funeral.
"Now I'm going to open up publicly about some things that have been said to me by so called "journalists'," Dennis said.
“They greeted me and my family at the airport not 24 [hours] after my wife's funeral.
“The things that were said to me in front of my 2 year old daughter are disgusting!
"Things such as: How does it feel knowing you killed the mother of your two children, and they'll never see their mother again?! Are you a murderer?!...This is just one of MANY encounters.”
“Then there is the clear twisting of any words I use, they know I never intentionally or unintentionally used a vehicle as a weapon.
“Never was it legally said that I did either, the video footage of the accident also proves this statement.
“Time for all you so called journalists and media outlets to back off and leave my family alone,” he concluded.
Tom Jenkins