Australia’s Olympic movement has turned to Tasmanian Ian Chesterman to spearhead its 2020 campaign.
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It was announced on Thursday morning that the Legana father-of-three would be Chef de Mission for the summer Games in Tokyo in addition to the 2018 winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
It will be the first time that the same person has filled both roles and will complete a Japanese round trip for Chesterman whose first appointment as Chef de Mission was in Nagano in 1998.
“It’s a great honour and I’m really excited,” said the 58-year-old, who is one of Tasmania's highest profile sporting administrators having served as Chef de Mission at five previous Olympics.
“It is a sign of the excellent work that has been done in the winter sports environment that it is seen as capable of making a contribution to the summer sports.
“In the past the winter sports have been seen as a small team with the summer sports as the big brother but over the past 20 years the winter reputation has grown considerably.
“For me, being able to play a role in Olympic sports is a privilege. It has been a big part of my life and is an honour to be able to create opportunities for young Australians to perform on the ultimate stage.”
Earlier this year, Chesterman was a pivotal player in the power struggle at the Australian Olympic Committee in which he and Helen Brownlee became vice-presidents and John Coates was re-elected president.
An AOC board member for 16 years, Chesterman takes over from Sydney Olympic pentathlete Kitty Chiller who served as Chef de Mission at the 2016 summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Chesterman has spent his working life involved in sporting administration.
He founded Tasmanian communications and events company Sportcom in 1988 and has taken on numerous media roles from Targa Tasmania to the Commonwealth Games while his connection with Olympic Games dates back 23 years.
He was deputy Chef de Mission in Lillehammer in 1994 and returned to the same Norwegian city last year to take charge of the Australian team at the Youth Olympic Games.
“My first winter Games as Chef de Mission was in Nagano in 1998 so I’ll be going back to an environment that I know a little bit about but I’m sure has changed a lot in 20 years,” he said.
“I’m sure Japan will put on an exceptional Games, there’s no doubt about that. The Japanese really want to make this a huge success.
“Rio was a very difficult Games for many people but I’m sure Tokyo is going to be fantastic and I’m confident that they can deliver exactly what they say they will.”
Chesterman has also served as Chef de Mission at the Salt Lake City (2002), Torino (2006), Vancouver (2010) and Sochi (2014) winter Olympic Games but has only attended a summer Games in Sydney.
He said he is proud of having played a role in developing Australia’s reputation as a highly respected winter sport nation with the likes of Alisa Camplin, Steven Bradbury, Torah Bright and Lydia Lassila all striking gold under his watch.
Chesterman rejected the notion that a Chef de Mission needs to be a former athlete and saw grooming his successor as a key part of his role.
“When you look at the last 14 Olympics, summer and winter, John Coates has been Chef de Mission for six, I’m at six (including PyeongChang) with the other two being (ex-rower) Nick Green and Kitty Chiller, so it is not just the domain of ex-athletes.
“I think you need to have an understanding of what athletes need and having worked in elite sports performance for most of my life I think I have that. Games are also multi-faceted, dealing with the media, governments, the IOC, sponsors and national federations. You also need to be able to pull everything together and I think these are skills I can bring to the table developed over a long period in administration.”
Announcing Chesterman’s appointment, AOC president John Coates said: “Ian has long played a key role in the successful preparation of our Olympic winter teams and we are excited to have him on board for the Tokyo 2020 Games.
“He has been a constant positive presence amongst Australian winter sports for over two decades, helping to oversee the growth and development of our winter athletes. We are confident he will be able to replicate the positive structures and leadership he has put in place for winter sports into the summer Chef de Mission position and in turn give our athletes the best opportunity to thrive.”
Chesterman said he has resigned from his role as director of community relations at Scotch Oakburn College but will be supporting the school on a project basis.