AOC president John Coates drops champion Australian athletes

EXCLUSIVE: SOME of the nation’s most accomplished athletes have been cut adrift by John Coates as the veteran administrator clings to the Australian Olympic Committee presidency.

Some of the nation’s most accomplished athletes have been cut adrift by John Coates. Picture: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

SOME of the nation’s most accomplished athletes have been cut adrift by John Coates as the veteran administrator clings to the Australian Olympic Committee presidency.

In a move condemned as “cynical and farcical”, Coates has formed a ticket of seven preferred board members ahead of the May 6 election.

The Herald Sun understands hockey star Rechelle Hawkes, one of only two Australian women to win Olympic gold at three separate Games, and swimmer Nicole Livingstone are out of favour with Coates.

And canoeist Danielle Woodward and dual Commonwealth Games champion diver Michael Murphy, a Harvard graduate, are also believed to have been left off the Coates ticket.

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Former Olympic swimmer Nicole Livingstone.

Olympic hockey star Rechelle Hawkes.

Canoeist Danielle Woodward.

Dual Commonwealth Games champion diver Michael Murphy in 1997.

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Coates is fighting to stave off a growing threat from Olympic champion Danni Roche.

Coates is under fire for forming a ticket in what are “free and fair elections”.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one Olympic administrator said: “Coates’ desperation and desire for control knows no bounds.

“He is under challenge for the first time in 27 years and doesn’t like it.

“He is known for ruthlessness and if he suspects people he has supported will vote for Danni Roche, he won’t hesitate to marginalise them.”

Roche, who is steadily gathering support after pledging to channel an extra $3 million into underfunded Australian Olympic sports, will not form a ticket ahead of the vote.

She sent letters to 15 impoverished federations on Sunday, vowing to use savings from Coates’ contentious $750,000 consultancy fee to — in some cases — triple funding. She has promised to cap her allowance at $100,000 a year and search for other administrative savings to meet her pledge to low-funded sports.

DANNI ROCHE PLANS TO INJECT MORE FUNDING INTO NEGLECTED SPORTS IF ELECTED AOC PRESIDENT

Former Olympic Hockey gold medallist Danni Roche is steadily gathering support in the race to be the next Australian Olympic Commitee president. Picture: Ian Currie

The Roche campaign continues to gain traction, even among sports traditionally favoured by Coates.

The political fault lines have become clearer with the sidelining of Hawkes, Livingstone, Woodward and Murphy.

It is understood Coates has endorsed Kitty Chiller (modern pentathlon), Mark Arbib (athletics), Matt Allen (sailing), Craig Carracher (volleyball), Tracey Gaudry (cycling), David Hynes (softball/baseball) and Evelyn Halls (fencing). But several of those candidates, including Allen and Gaudry, are unlikely to back Coates in the ballot.

A record 11 candidates will vie for seven board openings.

Former St Kilda president Andrew Plympton (sailing) will stand for one of two vice-presidential positions against Coates’ allies, Ian Chesterman (ski and snowboard) and Helen Brownlee (canoeing).

Olympic champions Nick Green and Steve Hooker are not seeking re-election.

Plympton was the first of the board members to defect from Coates, nominating support of fellow Australian Sports Commission board member Roche.

A member of the AOC’s remuneration and nominations committee, which reviews consultancy fees and executive salaries, Plympton was initially supported by Coates.

But his push for a review of the AOC wage structure — and particularly Coates’ salary — saw Plympton fall out with the Sydney powerbroker.

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