From Stawell to CEO: Athletics Australia names new chief
Athletics Australia President Rob Fildes has today named former Stawell Gift winner Dallas O’Brien as the new Chief Executive Officer of the national sporting body and the man charged with leading Australian track and field into the 2010 Commonwealth Games and beyond.
O’Brien joins the organisation after 18 years with international sports management company IMG as Executive Tournament Director - Golf and more recently, Director of Athletics and Fitness for the Asia-Pacific region.
A former fitness advisor to St Kilda Football Club (1988) and Board Director of the Victorian Athletic League (1992-93), O’Brien launched IMG’s Athletics and Fitness division in 2000 and went on to record major successes within the Australian triathlon, ironman and recreational running arenas.
In 2006 O’Brien negotiated the purchase of the Melbourne Marathon and in just four years increased participation numbers by 480 per cent.
In addition to his impeccable professional record, O’Brien boasts a 12-year sporting career that is highlighted by the British professional 400m championship in 1982, victory in the Stawell Gift in 1983 and the Australian professional 200m title in 1986.
The new athletics chief said he was looking forward to throwing his support behind the organisation and its senior representative team, the Australian Flame.
“It’s an exciting opportunity to continue the excellent work that Rob Fildes, Danny Corcoran and the whole Athletics Australia team are doing at the moment,” O’Brien said.
“Athletics is a sport I have a huge passion for. This, combined with my commercial experience in sport, means I believe I can make a real difference. I look forward to working with the many stakeholders within the entire athletics community and, most importantly, to throwing my total support behind the very talented Australian athletics team, the Flame.”
Mr. Fildes said the appointment was a coup for Australian track and field.
“Athletics Australia is very excited by the appointment of Dallas O’Brien from a very large field of quality candidates and I’m sure Dallas will continue the excellent work Danny Corcoran has achieved in his six years in the sport,” Mr. Fildes said.
“Dallas brings much commercial knowledge and valuable experience from his position as Director of Athletics and Fitness for the Asia-Pacific region with IMG, and we look forward to Dallas enjoying a very successful future with Athletics Australia.”
Following the departure of outgoing CEO Danny Corcoran after almost six years at the helm of the organisation, O’Brien will enter the Australian athletics arena as the sport moves through one of its most significant purple patches on record.
In 2009 the Australian athletics team turned on its most successful world championships campaign of all time with two gold (Steve Hooker – pole vault, Dani Samuels – discus throw) and two bronze medals (4x400m relay, Mitchell Watt – long jump) in Berlin (GER), and in March this year claimed two gold (Steve Hooker – pole vault, Fabrice Lapierre – long jump) and one bronze medal (Mitchell Watt – long jump) at the world indoor championships in Doha (QAT).
O’Brien will step into the role as the nation’s top track and field athletes continue the countdown to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, in October, where the largest Australian athletics team ever to attend a major international meet is expected to don the green and gold. Sixty-nine track and field athletes have so far been nominated for inclusion to the team.
O’Brien will commence in his new role on Monday, June 15 following a handover period with the outgoing CEO.
[b]BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY…
Australian athletics jumps into Asia
In other news announced by Athletics Australia President Rob Fildes today, Australia now looks increasingly likely to take part in next year’s Asian Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, in the lead-up to the 2011 IAAF world championships.[/b]
After four years of discussions with the Asian Athletics Association, Mr Fildes will meet with Association delegates in New Delhi, India, this October, in a bid to shore up Australia’s athletics involvement within the Asian region.
“Athletics in Asia is growing both in interest and performance so it’s an exciting time to be joining the 45 nations already invited to participate in the Asian Athletics Championships,” Mr Fildes said.
“We are not quite over the line yet but I am hopeful of finalising an agreement with the Asian Athletics Council during the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.”
The regional equivalent of Great Britain’s entry to the prestigious European Athletics Championships, Australia’s inclusion in the Asian Athletics Championships would provide important competition opportunities for the nation’s top track and field athletes ahead of next year’s world championships in Daegu, South Korea, and open the door to fostering greater ties with key Asian partners including China, India and Japan into the future.
As with Football Australia’s inclusion in the Asian Confederation in 2007, it is hoped the move would give Australia’s top track and field athletes increased opportunity to compete against the world’s largest population base within their very own backyard and position the sport at the forefront of entry into a burgeoning Asian sports arena. Unlike Football Australia’s move, Athletics Australia’s entry into the Asian Athletics Championships would in no way impact on its status within the Oceania region.
The Asian Athletics Championships were first held in Manila (PHI) in 1973. The last edition of the meet was held in Guangzhou, China, in 2009, with the 2011 championships to be held in Kobe, Japan, in July next year and the 2013 meet on track for the Indian subcontinent.
