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The Tasmanian who has develop into one of the highly effective folks in Australian sport says his purpose is to encourage youngsters to be “the subsequent Cathy Freeman, the subsequent Ian Thorpe”.
Key factors:
- Australia’s new Olympics boss Ian Chesterman says sport helps authorities in addressing psychological well being, weight problems and social cohesion points
- Chesterman comes into the function recent from coping with the fallout from a dying within the Targa Tasmania occasion
- Colleagues have praised Chesterman’s “authenticity”, “dedication to the athletes” and his “nice values”
An Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) government for greater than 20 years, Ian Chesterman has succeeded John Coates, who introduced he was stepping down from the function final week.
Chesterman beat his solely challenger, Olympic swimming silver medallist Mark Stockwell, by profitable 67 out of 93 votes from delegates in Sydney on Saturday.
Chesterman has served as chef de mission for six Winter Olympic groups and on the Tokyo Summer time Video games.
Presently residing in Legana in Tasmania’s north, Chesterman stated he got here to the function with a really deep background in Olympic sports activities.
“Throughout all these years you study loads about Olympic actions, you make a number of connections and I believe what you additionally study is an actual philosophy on the way you need to strategy management,” he stated.
“For me, it’s totally a lot about how we serve our athletes, how we create alternatives for younger Australians, and the way we make for a very shiny future for Australian sport and Australian Olympic sports activities.”
Considered one of his first duties might be to safe ample funding to retain and develop expertise, significantly in ladies’s sports activities.
Lately, skilled pathways have opened for girls in main sports activities competitions, such because the AFL and NRL, which may imply a stiffer problem in preserving athletes targeted on profitable Olympic medals for Australia.
‘We need to encourage youngsters’
Whereas the subsequent Olympic Video games might be held in Paris, in 2024, the brand new president is already trying past that.
Chesterman hopes to encourage the subsequent generations of Australian athletes within the lead-up to the Olympic and Paralympic Video games in 2032, to be held in Brisbane.
“We need to encourage youngsters to be the subsequent Cathy Freeman, the subsequent Ian Thorpe,” he stated.
Chesterman stated they had been mounting a case to the federal authorities to extend funding in sports activities for younger Australians.
“There are such a lot of issues we have now in our society similar to psychological well being, weight problems, social cohesion, and sport can play an actual function in serving to the federal government deal with these,” Chesterman stated.
“We have to make a very clear pathway for folks and we have to give the useful resource to our sport to really provide the most effective applications, you recognize we’re competing towards the most effective on this planet.
Chesterman praised for Tokyo pandemic video games
Rowing Australian chief government Ian Robson stated it was an impressive appointment and he was thrilled to have a fellow Tasmanian within the function.
“Irrespective of the place you come from, in our nice continent, whether or not it is mainland Australia or the island of Tasmania, the power to chase your desires and to work laborious are the important thing substances to giving your self any probability of bringing these desires to actuality.
“It is a great story for Tasmania to have him dwelling in Launceston however actually talking to the nation, however on behalf of the nation talking to the world.”
A protracted-standing chef de mission of Winter Olympics groups, Chesterman was broadly praised for shepherding the Australian crew via the Tokyo Video games in the course of the pandemic.
Robson stated the brand new president gave the athletes a really calming message in the course of the lead-up to the Summer time Olympics after a year-long delay.
“To reassure our athletes that issues had been on monitor, preparations had been continuing, and that they need to simply stay targeted on their preparations, which is what they did.
“He is very related, nice values, only a great individual, each professionally and personally, I’m trying ahead to working with him within the years forward.”
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff additionally prolonged his congratulations to Chesterman.
“It is simply one other instance of Tasmanians … not solely doing Tasmania proud however highlighting that Tasmanians can do and be no matter they need to be,” he stated.
‘All of us had tears in our eyes’
Targa Australia chief government Mark Perry stated Chesterman grew to become the media supervisor of the automobile race in 2007.
On Wednesday, Chesterman was tasked with managing the information of the fatality of a competitor, by Thursday he was in Sydney in preparation for the AOC vote.
“It was good to have some excellent news this week, to be sincere, and watching Ian win that vote reside on TV, all of us had tears in our eyes,” Perry stated.
“He is an incredible man and he is achieved a lot in his life and it is a fruits of so a few years of labor for him and we had been all simply felt like proud dad and mom actually, watching all of it play out.
Perry stated the brand new president was “a humble man” and many individuals in Launceston wouldn’t pay attention to his newest success.
“He says good day to everyone, there will be no airs or graces with him,” he stated.
“It is huge for Tasmanian sport, and Tasmanians usually, to have a Tasmanian heading up an organisation as huge as that.
“It is large for Tasmania, it isn’t one thing that often occurs.”
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