Shock departure: ‘Gold medal maker’ quits sports academy amid rumours of clash

The chief executive of the Queensland Academy of Sport has sensationally quit, less than four years after being lured back from the UK for the lead-up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics. The QAS chair has also resigned.

Chelsea Warr was lured back to Queensland from the UK to be chief executive of the Queensland Academy of Sport. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

Chelsea Warr, the internationally renowned sports official dubbed “the gold medal maker”, has sensationally quit as the chief executive of the Queensland Academy of Sport.

The development comes less than four years after Ms Warr was lured back from the UK to identify and develop the state’s young stars for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Ms Warr left the Department of Tourism and Sport’s high-performance sports unit on Wednesday, with multiple sources telling The Courier-Mail she had clashed with bureaucrats on how the academy should be run.

Her resignation “to pursue other opportunities” came after a meeting with Andrew Hopper, the director-general of the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport.

Chelsea Warr with Stirling Hinchliffe, Annastacia Palaszczuk during the opening of a $10 million gym and sports science lab at the Queensland Academy of Sport in 2022. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The chair of the academy’s advisory board and dual Olympic gold medallist hockey player Renita Garard has also this week advised the government of her intention to resign, just over a year after previous chair Paula Robinson also resigned – to take up a job as general counsel of the Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee.

Sources in elite sporting circles are deeply concerned about the shake-up, and the impact on the Youfor2032 program.

“She (Chelsea) was determined to achieve excellence and sometimes bureaucrats resent and struggle with that,” a source from one of the national sporting organisations said.

“Most high-performance sports programs, whether for the Olympics or the NRL, need to be innovative, quick to adapt and fast in decision making – contrary to how some government departments work.”

Former Olympic hockey gold medallist Renita Garard was chair of the QAS.

As Australia's captain. Picture: Tony Marshall/EMPICS via Getty Images

Ms Warr was dubbed “the gold medal maker” after revolutionising UK Sport. During her 14 years with that academy she took Great Britain from having won just one gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games to second place on the world stage at Rio in 2016, with 27 golds.

After returning to her home state of Queensland in 2020 to take the top job with the QAS, Ms Warr set a cracking pace for transformation – securing funding for multimillion-dollar gyms at both Chandler and Nathan campuses.

She also tried, without success, to have the QAS operate as an entity separate from government, as has worked well in some European countries.

“Transformation of any kind may have unintended consequences, including a fair bit of cultural churn,” one source said.

A Department of Tourism and Sport spokesman said: “After more than three years at the helm of the Queensland Academy of Sport, Chelsea Warr is moving on to pursue other opportunities. As chief executive, Chelsea built significant momentum to help the Queensland Academy of Sport chart our path on the green and gold runway to Brisbane 2032. Dr Renita Garard has advised she intends to resign as chair of the QAS Advisory Board.”

The spokesman said the QAS would be led in the interim by Troy Ayres, the academy’s former executive director of talent and coaching and manager of the Youfor2032 program.

“Preparations for Paris are firmly in place, with a committed team supporting our Olympic and Paralympic athletes in their quest for gold,” the spokesman said.

“We have absolute confidence in Troy and the QAS team to provide Queensland’s athletes with all the support they need for Paris, and beyond to LA and Brisbane 2032.”

Ms Warr and Dr Garard were contacted for comment.