After 12 years and 10 Olympic campaigns Fiona de Jong has today announced she is moving on from Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).
AOC President, John Coates commented “Fiona can be immensely satisfied with all she has accomplished and the legacy she leaves. Fiona has always brought a passion and energy to her work. This personal commitment combined with a decade of incremental improvements to Olympic Team operations and her recent work with the AOC Executive and staff driving a strong and robust 10-year strategic framework means she leaves an enduring legacy for the Olympic movement in Australia.”
“Having been part of the preparation of 3 summer, 3 winter and 4 youth Australian Olympic Teams, I’ve enjoyed a most rewarding career with the AOC”, said de Jong. “The Rio 2016 Olympic Games was my 10th Olympic campaign. With Rio behind us and a solid strategic framework in place to guide the AOC through to 2024, I am proud of the contribution I’ve made. Now is the best time for someone else to build on this framework and drive the Tokyo 2020 and 2024 campaigns from the beginning of the new quadrennial – both a formidable and exciting task,” added de Jong.
A former triathlete and lawyer, de Jong joined the AOC in 2004. For ten years she assumed the role of Director of Sport, overseeing the successful preparation of Australian Olympic Teams for Torino 2006, Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010, London 2012 and Sochi 2014 Olympic Games and Singapore 2010, Innsbruck 2012 and Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games. She also managed the delivery of five Australian Youth Olympic Festivals hosted in Sydney as part of Sydney’s legacy from the 2000 Olympics. In this role de Jong managed the AOC Medical Commission and Athletes’ Commission and built a reputation for ensuring the athlete selection process for Australian Olympic Teams was an open, fair and transparent one including a formidable success rate in disputes before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In August 2014 Fiona was appointed Secretary General, later modernised to the title of CEO. In addition to her CEO responsibilities, Fiona was an important contributor to the success of the Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic Team and more recently, as Deputy Chef de Mission for the Rio 2016 Australian Olympic Team.
“In her 12 years at the AOC Fiona served under six Chef de Missions and has become widely respected amongst the 28 summer and 7 winter national sporting federations. She is one of Australia’s great sports administrators and has made an outstanding contribution to the Olympic movement during her years at the AOC.” Coates said.
As CEO she quickly went to work with the AOC Executive and staff to develop and bed-down a 10-year strategic framework to develop, promote and protect the Olympic movement in Australia. As part of this strategic work, de Jong and her team revitalised the brand, set up initiatives to drive integrity in sport and enhanced community outreach programs in indigenous communities, hospitals and schools around the country.
Coates reflects “Her commitment to the rights of athletes and using sport as a vehicle to drive social change is reflected in her work.” Coates cites as an example “her recent work with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to strengthen the protection of children playing sport from abuse. Work recognised internationally and resulting in her inclusion on an IOC taskforce”, something Coates has asked her to continue her involvement.
De Jong reflected “My passion is sport, particularly the benefits sport provides individuals, communities and more broadly society. I have seen first-hand the change sport brings to people and places and am privileged to have been at the service of Australian sport through my time at the AOC. I’ve been part of making over 1600 Australian athletes’ Olympic dreams come true, uplifted the standards in sport and created social change programmes, some of which I will continue to be involved in. None of this would have been possible without the support of the AOC President, Executive, Senior Management and staff, in particular, John Coates for first opening the door of opportunity back in 2004.”
De Jong will conclude her service on 31 December 2016, although she will continue her work with the IOC taskforce to ensure a safe environment for young athletes to participate in sport, both here and internationally.
The AOC Executive will consider the process for recruiting a replacement at its meeting next month.
