World cycling champion Rohan Dennis has shared a family photo in front of a Christmas tree, days before he allegedly ran over his Olympian wife in his submarine.
Dennis, 33, was seen smiling from ear to ear in the photo as he posed in front of the decorated tree with his wife Melissa Hoskins, 32, and their two children.
“Merry Christmas to you from our family! The couple and their children are smiling, each holding a protective hand on the child in front of them,” he wrote on Instagram.
Just four days later, police allege Dennis hit his wife Melissa with his black ute on a street in the northern Adelaide suburb of Medindie at 8pm on Saturday.
Melissa was taken from the scene in an ambulance with serious injuries but died in hospital, after which police arrested Dennis and charged him with causing his wife's death.
Since then, several social media posts have resurfaced showing Dennis happy for his wife and their two children.
Just four days before police claimed Rohan Dennis (right) hit Melissa Dennis (left) with his black ute, the Olympic cyclist posted on Instagram: “Merry Christmas from our family to yours.”
Dennis posted this photo of his children sitting in his van parked in Adelaide a year ago and said how lucky he was and “sometimes I don't appreciate everything I have.”
Just two weeks ago, Dennis posted a picture of himself and his wife laughing in a car on the way to a wedding.
“I finally did it, I finally made @melissmdennis lose the plan #lifegoalachieved,” the caption read.
When a friend replied, “It was just a matter of time,” Dennis responded with laughing emojis, “She was a lot harder to crack than I thought.”
Dennis was released on bail at the weekend after being charged with causing death by dangerous driving, careless driving and endangering life.
The couple were both Olympic-level cyclists, with Dennis taking home a silver medal in 2012 and a bronze medal in 2020, while his wife missed out on a medal by just 0.18 seconds in 2012.
The couple married in 2018 and have a five-year-old son and a younger daughter.
The fatal collision occurred on a tree-lined street in one of Adelaide's wealthiest suburbs, where the Dennis family is believed to own a home.
Neighbors reported seeing a black pickup truck being towed off the street and police were filmed standing at the scene with a pile of clothing on the street.
Just a year ago, Dennis posted a photo of his two children sitting in the back of a black van.
“Sometimes I don’t appreciate everything I already have. “Then I see photos like this,” was the caption.
Some social media users praised him for his car and said “nice pickup truck.”
Another said: 'You're doing it right bro, we all sometimes miss what's right in front of us but then you pull your head out of your ass and realize 'I'm a lucky man' and life gets even better'.
Rohan Dennis posted this along with the selfie of the smiling couple attending a wedding on December 15
Two weeks before her death, Melissa Dennis took this selfie of the couple laughing in a car on the way to a wedding, with Rohan joking that it took effort to make his wife laugh
Police at the scene on a street in the affluent northern Adelaide suburb of Medindie where Olympian Melissa Dennis died after she was allegedly hit by her husband's ute
The couple's two Instagram pages show a young family traveling abroad, drinking wine with friends and enjoying time together, with Ms Dennis writing “wife and mother” as her bio. Lover of family, food, travel and wine.
That same month, Dennis posted a photo of the couple enjoying wine and cheese at a winery, saying, “The future is looking pretty bright.”
The family spent the last few years splitting their time between Adelaide and Spain, where Rohan competed professionally with various European teams until he announced his retirement last year.
Six weeks ago, he posted a picture of himself in the pool with his two children at a hotel in Dubai and wrote: “There's some much needed decompression here #Rollercoasterofemotions.”
A week later, the couple posed in front of a pyramid in Egypt, with Rohan posting: “Huge bucket list moment, definitely didn't disappoint!”
The couple relaxed at the top of a vineyard and split their time between Adelaide and Spain, where Rohan Dennis competed professionally as a cyclist until his recent retirement
Melissa Dennis is loaded into an ambulance and taken to hospital, where she died shortly afterwards and her husband was charged with dangerous driving and endangering life
More recent photos show him relaxing with his young daughter in his living room with the Christmas tree and outside barbecuing in his neatly fenced backyard.
Medindie is known for its “old money” properties with colonial-era homes on large lots and has an average home price of $3 million.
In her cycling career, Melissa Hoskins was a member of the Australian track cycling pursuit team that placed fourth at the London Olympics and won gold at the 2015 World Championships, breaking the event's world record.
That same year, Rohan set a record for the longest distance covered in an hour and started the Tour de France in pole position after winning the first stage's individual time trial despite not finishing in the top 100.
He was awarded the Sir Hubert Opperman Medal and the trophy as Australia's best all-round cyclist in 2015.
Rohan Dennis will stand trial in Adelaide on March 13.