The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has paid tribute to Kitty Chiller AM for her services to gymnastics, following the announcement of her resignation as Chief Executive Officer of Gymnastics Australia today.
AOC President John Coates says gymnastics in Australia has been the beneficiary of Kitty Chiller’s considerable knowledge and skills for the past four years.
“Kitty has done an excellent job in improving the operating and governance environment at Gymnastics Australia and consequently the sport is well placed to pursue to the opportunities that present in the ten-year pathway to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.
“Her experience was critical in ensuring that Australia was well represented at the Tokyo 2020 Games with a team of eleven athletes, admirably dealing with all the difficulties both athletes and support staff faced in the COVID environment.
“Kitty has also met the challenges faced by the sport with great candour and insight, commissioning the Australian Human Rights Commission Report into the sport’s culture and practices then acting on the report’s recommendations. She has placed athlete protection at the forefront.
“It’s important to acknowledge that having been appointed to the role of Chief Executive, her skills were quickly appreciated with her further appointment to the Executive of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) in early 2018 - a role in which she will continue.
“As an Executive member of the global governing body for Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) since 2016, Kitty is the only Australian to simultaneously hold two executive positions at two International Olympic sporting bodies.
“While she is yet to announce her next role, the AOC will continue to benefit from her input as a member of our Executive and she continues to serve the sport of Modern Pentathlon as President – the sport at which she excelled – as seven-time national champion and as an Olympian in Sydney.
“As a former Australian Olympic Team Deputy Chef de Mission (London 2012) and our first female Chef (Rio 2016), Kitty has a diverse set of skills which I know she will bring to the fore in her next leadership role,” Mr Coates concluded.
In 2020, Kitty Chiller was also honoured by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), receiving the IOC’s Women and Sport Award for Oceania for her effort to advance gender equality in sport as an athlete and sports administrator. She continues to serve as a member of the IOC Athletes Entourage Commission, having been appointed in 2016.
