Olympian Rohan Dennis under fire for calling car ‘a weapon’ in Instagram post after wife’s death

An Olympian whose wife died after being struck by his car has made a shocking faux pas in his first Instagram post since the conclusion of a court case surrounding her death.

Melissa Hoskins died in December 2023, after she was struck by a car being driven by former world champion cyclist Rohan Dennis following an argument outside of their home in Adelaide.

The former Olympian, who represented Australia at the London 2012 games, was handed a suspended jail sentence in May last year after pleading guilty to an aggravated charge of creating likelihood of harm relating to the tragedy.

He was also banned from driving for five years.

Since his conviction, his social media account has remained inactive.

But this week, he sparked outrage by posting a photograph of a Porsche car on his Instagram page - which he described as “an absolute weapon”.

While in Australian slang, the word weapon can be used in a complimentary way to describe something unstoppable or highly competent, the double meaning has seen Dennis come in for fierce criticism.

The tragedy unfolded on December 30, 2023, with a court hearing Dennis and his wife had a fierce argument at their Adelaide home about a kitchen renovation.

Dennis left to get away from the exchange and took the family’s Volkswagen Amarok from the garage, driving off into the night.

But Ms Hoskins did not want him to leave and in tragic scenes, she jumped onto the bonnet of the car as Dennis drove down Medindie Lane, behind their home, going at about 20km/hr.

When Dennis pulled into Avenel Gardens Road, Ms Hoskins dismounted the bonnet and grabbed at the driver’s side door. She then tripped and was dragged under the car as Dennis drove down Avenel Gardens Road.

She was critically injured and died at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

In a court case last year, Dennis was told he had “disregarded his wife’s safety” - but that he was not criminally responsible for her death.

Dennis was sentenced to one-year-and-four-months’ jail, to be wholly suspended, and was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond.

His licence was disqualified for five years.

A former champion cyclist, 35-year-old Dennis won consecutive world titles at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in 2010 and 2011.

He was also part of the Australian team pursuit team that claimed silver in the London 2012 team pursuit event.

His wife, who was 32 at the time of her death, was also a highly competitive cyclist in her own right.

Like Dennis, she also competed at London 2012, as part of the Australian track cycling team pursuit team that narrowly missed out on a bronze medal.

She also competed at the following Summer Games in 2016, before retiring from the sport in 2017.

The couple have two children together, who were both aged under eight at the time of the tragedy.