Russell Withers Retires from AOC

Mr Russell Withers has today announced his retirement from the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) Executive on which he has served since 2001.

The President of the AOC, Mr John Coates, praised Mr Withers for his years of service to the Olympic Movement.

"Russell has made an outstanding contribution to the AOC since 2001, it is a voluntary role and he has been extremely generous with his time and we have benefited greatly from his input as Chairman of the AOC Audit Committee, a member of the AOC Finance Commission and as a Director of the Australian Olympic Foundation and member of its Investment Advisory Committee".

Mr Withers was nominated to the AOC Executive by his sport, the Equestrian Federation of Australia, on which he served as President from 2001 to 2006.

"Russell came from an Equestrian background but had a genuine love of everything Olympic" Coates said. "He supported our athletes in both the Summer and Winter Games".

"He was the Section Manger (Team Manager) for Equestrian at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He filled the role of Equestrian commentator/announcer at the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympics. He was Deputy Chef de Mission of the 2008 Australian Olympic Team in Beijing".

Mr Coates, who is a Vice President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), was on a flight to Lausanne, Switzerland, on IOC business when the ABC Four Corners program on 7-Eleven, of which Mr Withers is Chairman, went to air.

He wrote immediately to Mr Coates saying "I wanted to let you know that I am in your hands and happy to either stand aside or stand down from my AOC roles. I certainly don’t want to see any blow-back onto the AOC, particularly when the AOC runs to such high governance standards."

The AOC President and Mr Withers subsequently spoke and it was agreed they would speak further on the President’s return which was late last night.

They spoke again today and Mr Withers announced his retirement from the AOC

For more information, contact:

Mike Tancred

Media Director

Australian Olympic Committee

P: +61 2 9247 2000

D: +61 2 8436 2140

M: +61 412 330 274

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