Kate Palmer vows to make athletics No 1

Former Sport Australia chief executive Kate Palmer has vowed to make athletics the biggest participation sport in the country.

Former Sport Australia CEO Kate Palmer is now boss on OneAthletics

Former Sport Australia chief executive Kate Palmer has vowed to make athletics the biggest participation sport in the country after joining the organisation in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

Athletics Australia on Tuesday announced Palmer had been appointed as the chief executive of OneAthletics — the merger of AA and Little Athletics Australia (LAA) — for the next 12 months.

As revealed in The Australian, Athletics Australia chief executive Darren Gocher will stand down in late-April as part of the handover. Gocher was instrumental in securing Athletics Australia’s major partnership with Coles, led the organisation through the challenging COVID-19 pandemic and the successful Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

He decided it was time for a change, although Palmer made it clear she wanted Gocher to stay.

“I will be working very closely with him to help form the new entity,” Palmer said.

“I have admired Darren and his wok over the period he has been CEO. In actual fact I am disappointed he is leaving. But I think he has put a great team in place.”

Athletics Australia President Mark Arbib said: “On behalf of the board and the athletics community, I wish to express my gratitude to Darren for the outstanding contribution he has made to the sport.

“Darren has shown great commitment and dedication to our athletes, coaches and officials and we are in his debt. Our board is thankful he will stay on to our National Championships in April.”

Little Athletics Australia chief executive Martin Stillman resigned in December after almost eight years in the role. Palmer will be at the apex of the new leadership structure, where she will be accountable to both LAA and AA Boards.

Palmer is one of Australia’s most experienced and highly regarded sports executives, having formerly held the positions of chief executive Officer of Sport Australia and Netball Australia.

She became the first woman to head Sport Australia and during her three-year tenure led the rebranding of the organisation, governance reform among national sports organisations and put in place safeguards to protect children in sporting environments.

“The opportunity to work with Athletics Australia and Coles Little Athletics Australia to bring to life Australian Athletics through the ‘OneAthletics’ project is one I look forward to enormously,” said Palmer.

“I am excited to be appointed to this role and look forward to working with the athletics community around the nation to transform athletics into the largest participation sport in the country.

“There is a place for everyone in athletics and the vision for athletics in Australia is clear. To create a pathway that will drive lifelong involvement from Little Athletics to juniors, seniors and masters.”

Gocher will continue as chief executive of until April 23. In due course both LAA and AA boards will appoint an interim senior executive to protect the interests of their respective organisations as well as looking after day-to-day operating matters.