Final Hours for Australia Olympic Battle

(ATR) With three days to go before the vote, John Coates and Danni Roche vie for the edge in the May 6 election for president of the Australian Olympic Committee.

Coates, 66, is facing his first opposition in 26 years for reelection to the AOC post. Rival Danni Roche, 46, is a gold medalist in field hockey from the 1996 Olympics and is a business executive in Melbourne.

Roche says Coates has served long enough and vows to bring changes to eliminate tensions among Australian sports bodies.

Coates is campaigning on his experience as well as the international influence he holds as a senior member of the IOC. He views the challenge from Roche as orchestrated by political adversary John Wylie, chair of the Australian Sports Commission. Coates believes that Wylie wants to take control of the $AU 147 million treasury of the AOC, an independent body.

In these final days of the race, Coates would appear to have the inside advantage, hosting a reception on May 5, the night before the AOC Annual General Meeting in Sydney. While Roche is invited to the soirée, it will be Coates who will be in the spotlight. He will speak, she will not.

The same goes for the AGM on May 6. Roche has asked to speak but won’t be allowed.

The secret vote will be cast by representatives of the 40 summer and winter sports federations in Australia.

Nicole Jefferey of The Australian reports Coates has endorsements from prominent Olympians who range from the 1956 Games to Rio 2016. The group includes Herb Elliott and Cathy Freeman, as well as Ric Charlesworth who coached Roche in 1996.

Charlesworth says Coates brings a high level of experience to the AOC presidency.

"Danni hasn’t done anything like that. She doesn’t have a longstanding interest or involvement in the Olympic movement, she’s on the board of a football club and the Australian Sports Commission through patronage and that doesn’t make a career in sports administration," he’s quoted in the report.

Roche has been making regular posts to her website outlining her plans for the AOC.

"At the heart of my vision is the premise that the AOC belongs to its member Federations. Its role is to bring together all of those involved in the Olympic movement in Australia to provide our sports and athletes with every opportunity to excel.

"If I am elected, I will build partnerships and collaboration between the peak bodies of Australian sport – the Australian Sports Commission, the Australian Paralympic Committee, Commonwealth Games Australia, and the AOC – to ensure we have a strong collective voice to advocate for sport and athlete funding," she says in a May 2 post.

Homepage photo: ASC/ATR

Written by Ed Hula.