Olympic movement mourns Australian legend

1 year ago 68

Legendary sports head and three-time Olympic canoer Phil Coles died aged 91 connected Saturday.

Coles represented Australia successful sprint canoeing astatine the 1960 Rome, 1964 Tokyo, and 1968 Mexico City Olympics earlier aboriginal serving arsenic an International Olympic Committee subordinate from 1982 to 2011.

Coles besides joined the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) committee successful 1983.

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AOC President Ian Chesterman paid tribute to Coles and his enduring dedication to the Olympic movement.

"His work to Australian athletics was immense. Phil's passing, aft a beingness successful sport, is simply a bittersweet time for the Olympic question and galore progressive successful the wider sports assemblage successful Australia," helium said.

Coles captained the Australian canoe squad to ninth spot successful the K-4 1000m lawsuit astatine the 1964 Olympics.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, helium returned to commemorate the achievement.

"I was peculiarly pleased to spot Phil astatine the Tokyo Olympics astatine the canoe events, a accidental for him to instrumentality to 1 of his big cities of his 3 Olympic Games arsenic an athlete, and 1 that was evidently precise important to him," Chesterman said.

"He greatly enjoyed the accidental to ticker the existent time competitors, the athletes being astatine the bosom of his agelong work to the Olympic movement."

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