Phil Coles

Phil Coles was a flatwater canoeist who competed at three Olympic Games, from 1960-68. He won 25 national canoe championships and was a national surf lifesaving champion five times. Coles captained the first Australian surf lifeguard team to compete in California in 1965.

In sports administration Coles was a member of the Executive Board of the Australian Olympic Committee since 1973, being secretary-general from 1985-93 and then Director of International Relations from 1993-99. He was vice president and director of the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) from 1993-99. He was also a founding member of the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC). Coles was a board member of the Australian Sports Drug Agency from 1996-98, and was a member of the Australian Sports Commission from 1984-87 and 1989-91.

Coles has made a member of the IOC in 1982 and has been on numerous Commissions, including: Radio and Television; Joint Mass Media; Olympic Solidarity; Study and Evaluation for the Preparation of the Winter Olympic Games; Sport for All; New Sources of Financing; Marketing; Working Group on the Olympic Programme; and the Olympic Programme Commission. He served on the IOC until he turned 80 and then was made an Honorary Member on 1 January 2012. Coles was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1983 “In recognition of service to sport,” and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1993.