Olympic cyclist Rohan Dennis has explained why he didn’t perform CPR on his wife Melissa Hoskins as she lay dying on the street outside their Adelaide home after she was hit by the car he was driving in December 2023.

Dennis has pleaded guilty to committing an aggravated act likely to cause harm but is not being held criminally responsible for Hoskins’ death.

The record of his interview with South Australian police on December 31, 2023 has been revealed as he awaits sentencing on May 14.

After revealing the couple were arguing about renovations when ‘tensions boiled over’, he re-created what he saw and heard after saying Hoskins jumped in front of the car and onto the bonnet, before jumping off and being struck by the vehicle.

‘I heard a thump and I saw in my mirror that she was on the ground,’ Dennis told police in the interview, which was obtained by News Corp.

Rohan Dennis and Melissa Hoskins are pictured on their wedding day. He has re-created the horrific scene that occurred when the car he was driving struck her in December 2023

Dennis (pictured with Hoskins) is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to a charge of committing an aggravated act likely to cause harm

‘I was just talking to her the whole time to try [to] keep her awake,’ Dennis said.

‘I pulled over as quick as I could and ran back to her.

‘She was just moaning, like grunting with the pain and I was saying, “Can you feel your legs, are you OK?” … and she was nodding as yes.

‘I knew she’d hit her head, but … when I pulled her it felt like she potentially broke some ribs or something … and that’s why blood was coming up. 

‘That’s why I was thinking maybe that’s why she was struggling to talk. She couldn’t quite breathe properly.’

The 34-year-old also told police he didn’t try to perform CPR on his wife as he didn’t know how and didn’t want to risk worsening her condition, so he waited for ambulance officers to arrive.

‘They [the paramedics] got there and she was still breathing and still awake,’ he said.

Hoskins died in Royal Adelaide Hospital shortly afterwards.

Former Olympian Dennis (pictured outside court) revealed he was asking his wife ‘Can you feel your legs?’ as she lay dying on the road outside their house

Dennis (pictured with Hoskins) explained that he didn’t perform CPR on his wife as he didn’t know how and was worried about making her condition worse

Charges of causing death by dangerous driving and aggravated driving without due care were dropped and it is not alleged that Dennis caused her death. 

On Monday, the South Australian District Court had heard that Dennis believed his vehicle was travelling at approximately 20km/h when the incident took place. 

CCTV footage showed Hoskins had been on the bonnet of the car for around six seconds before falling off.

Hoskins’ father, Peter, explained that he was not able to forgive Dennis in his victim impact statement.

‘Melissa did not deserve to die and she certainly did not deserve the death that she suffered,’ he told the court.

‘Can I forgive you for the abandonment of your responsibilities as a husband and father on December 30? I doubt I can do that, given what you have taken from me and my family.’

Her mother, Amanda, told the court that she believed Dennis had not intended to intentionally hurt her daughter.

‘Melissa was the best thing that ever happened to you [Dennis]. Rohan, you loved Melissa, and I know that you would never intentionally hurt her,’ Amanda said.

Hoskins’ father Peter (pictured outside court with her sister Jessica and mother Amanda) said he cannot forgive Dennis for what happened

‘I believe this was a tragic accident and an accident that should never have happened.

‘Your temper is your downfall and needs to be addressed.’

Prosecutor Tali Costi had told the court that while Dennis was not criminally responsible for his wife’s death he had been ‘reckless to the fact that she was holding onto the vehicle’.

Melissa had competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics in the team pursuit. She was in the Australian quartet that had won the 2015 world title in the same event.

Dennis, meanwhile, won two world titles in the road time trial and took silver in the team pursuit in London 2012. He would also win bronze in the road time trial in Tokyo.

He retired from professional cycling at the end of the 2023 season.