By Phil Lutton
After more than three decades in charge of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), John Coates will step down from his presidency at the end of April. In the running to be named his replacement are Ian Chesterman and Mark Stockwell, two respected veterans of the Australian sporting landscape.
They will need to win the lion’s share of the 93 voting delegates to step into the shoes of Coates, who has been a giant of the Australian Olympic scene and a major player in the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
AOC president John Coates.Credit: Getty
With an Olympic Games secured for Brisbane in 2032, the role is one of the most important in Australian sport. Chesterman and Stockwell share their pitches ahead the day of reckoning on April 30.
Ian Chesterman: ‘I understand the ecosystem of Olympic sport’
The enduring memory of Ian Chesterman at the Tokyo Olympic Games was one of exhaustion, emotion and relief. Having helped steer the team through postponements, setbacks and restrictive COVID countermeasures, the tears would flow at his final press conference once the Games reached their conclusion.
It was an endearing moment for a veteran of the Australian Olympic movement, showing genuine empathy for the athletes and unfiltered joy that not only had the Olympics been a success in terms of medals, but everyone was able to compete and return home unscathed.
That unashamed athletes-first approach will be part of Chesterman’s appeal when he tries to succeed Coates as AOC president later this month. But with decades of Olympic experience, he insists he brings far more to the table, while saying the trials and tribulations of Tokyo sharpened his already formidable leadership chops.
“I really honed my leadership skills across many Olympic campaigns. But having that Tokyo experience really took that need to be a leader to another level, the need to be a team builder. It was something I really relished,” Chesterman said.
Australian chef de mission Ian Chesterman.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“That was built on empowering sports[people] to be their best, not just at the Games but the whole path to the Games. When you are under the ultimate pressure, you need to have really strong relationships and mutual respect. When we needed to work together, we did so effectively.”
“I feel really comfortable with the athlete cohort because we went through a lot together and achieved a lot together. That’s something I’ll take with me because in the tough times you build up a lot of deep relationships. I would hope and do believe that if I got the job, the athletes would know the AOC is in the hands of somebody who is doing the job for all the right reasons. Top of that is to help them achieve their goals and dreams.
“Running for president is a big decision because you have to ensure you have the time and energy to do the job. But I come to the job totally understanding the ecosystem of Olympic sport, from the grassroots right up to the IOC.”
Chesterman’s role as Tokyo chef de mission was his most public to date, given the controversy surrounding the Games. But he’s been a fixture for the AOC as chef de mission at six Winter Games, and is a current vice-president to the outgoing Coates.
He suggests that all adds up to the ideal resume to step into the immense shoes of Coates, who will turn most of his attention to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games as he takes up a seat on that board.
“I’ve been involved in running a national federation, I’ve sat on boards of national federations, I’ve been on the board of the Olympic Winter Institute, I’ve been on the board of the AOC, I have a lot of experience there.
“I know the way our teams work, the importance of athletes, and I have those relationships with the other national Olympic committees. And I’m well known within the IOC.
“I think that adds up to a very deep understanding of the business … and it’s a very complex business. I’ve arrived at this point where I really feel I can make a difference to something that is very near and dear to me.”
Chesterman is liked and respected across the spectrum of Australian Olympic sport, but those questioning his capacity to head the AOC would suggest incumbency doesn’t always equate to premium outcomes. He is the establishment man who has waited in the wings for his chance to ascend.
But Chesterman counters that notion by saying he has a clear vision for Australian Olympic sport, not simply towards Brisbane 2032 but the decade beyond. It is a chance that cannot be squandered, he says, and funding and resources must be boosted if the athletes are to thrive and the community share any health and infrastructure benefits.
“I have a strong vision for what we need to do to make it successful heading towards 2032 but importantly, the 10 years beyond the Brisbane Games. That’s the great challenge that we have as an organisation going forward into the next period.
“It’s fundamentally important that we take advantage of hosting a Games. We saw in Sydney that requires increased funding. And there is no doubt Australian sport needs increased funding if we are to maximise our returns hosting a Games.
“I’m really passionate about taking advantage of the 2024 and 2028 Games as well, and the Winter Games in between. A large percentage of athletes only go to one Games. If we get the funding right for 24 and 28, that flows on to 2032. We can’t just sit back and wait.”
Mark Stockwell: ‘Your life as an Olympian gets started the moment you retire’
To a generation of Australian sporting fans, Mark Stockwell was a swimming icon, a part in the fabled ‘Mean Machine’ relay and a triple Olympic medallist at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
Now a successful businessman and experienced sports administrator, the straight-shooting Queenslander wants to help engineer a reimagining of Australian sport, should he garner enough votes to be elected as AOC president.
Former swimmer Mark Stockwell is also vying for the AOC role.Credit: Getty Images
Stockwell has never been one to rest on his laurels. Since retiring as a competitive swimmer in the mid-80s, he helped turn the family business into a multi-million-dollar property venture, all the while staying involved in sport through, among other posts, a deputy chairmanship of the Australian Sport Commission, and chair of the organising committee for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.
His run towards the presidency has been five years in the making, with participation, funding, the independence of sports and honing elite pathways among the pillars of his pitch. He acknowledges the long service of Chesterman but believes real change can only come from the outside in.
“It’s very hard to make changes within. I want to be able to help reimagine how we deliver high-performance sport. We want a sporting Australia, an Australia that participates. And the big legacy out of 2032, I think, is an active community. We can be tackling mental health, tackling obesity, through sport,” Stockwell said.
Stockwell has been working hard behind the scenes trying to secure the votes he needs. He says he has dealt with each and every one of the 52 Olympic sports and heard a similar tale; funding, facilities and self-determination are top of the wishlist.
A man who sees himself as a doer, not a talker, Stockwell believes he is uniquely placed to span the divide of government and sport and deliver what is required over the coming Olympic decade and beyond.
“They’re saying to me that funding is a big issue. And we’ve just been through a phase of [funding strategy] Winning Edge, which took money off one sport to give to another that was medal-ready. That put some sports back a very long way.
“I’ve done something that nobody else has done – I’ve spoken to every chair of every sport, spoken to their boards. They talk to me about funding and independence. Sports want to run themselves,” Stockwell said.
“They want to fund their participation and pathways and be responsible for their own high performance. Sports can deliver so much more than what they are doing at the moment.
“I don’t want the government to be setting up new bureaucracies. I just want them to be funding sport directly. Get paid administrators in there and let them take charge of their destiny.”
Stockwell also sees himself as a healing presence in the wake of a turbulent 2017 AOC election, in which factions aligned behind either Coates or former Hockeyroo Danni Roche, who presented a challenger for Coates for the first time since 1990.
“I want to heal the relationships between the sports, the Olympic movement, Sport Australia. We are on the same team here, so let’s work together. We have to stay focused on the main game, and that is getting Olympic sport back in the hearts and minds of the parents and kids in this country.
“Sport is part of the fabric of this nation. But we’re losing it, participation is declining. We’re in trouble. Talent is heading to those high-performance sports, and they are very well run. We have to fight for it. It’s as simple as leadership.
“I’ve been involved in the Olympic movement for 40 years now. I’ve never been on the board of the Australian Olympic Committee. I’m deeply embedded in Olympic sport and high-performance sport.
“You have to be statesmanly in bringing people together around an idea. Then you have to have the energy to get up every morning and make it happen. This isn’t about ‘I’m the president, so everyone has to come and kiss my arse.’ This is about the organisation being a servant to our member sports and our athletes.”
Stockwell is convinced Australian sport has become risk-averse under the current funding restraints and performance indicators. He wants to use the AOC as a vehicle to encourage innovation from athletes and coaches.
On the latter front, he wants to triple the number of high-performance coaches across the nation and expand opportunities for female coaches to reach the top tiers of their sports.
“We need to get rid of fear. There is a fear that is palpable in this country between the leading bodies and the sports themselves. And that’s the fear I want to heal.”
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