Kevan Gosper
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| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Athletics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | 1956 Melbourne | 4x400 metre relay | |
Richard Kevan Gosper (born 19 December 1933) was an Australian athlete who mainly competed in the 400 metres.
He competed for Australia in the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia where he won the silver medal in the 4 x 400 metre relay with his team mates Graham Gipson, Leon Gregory and David Lean.
He was nominated to the International Olympic Committee in 1977; is currently a Vice President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and was a Vice President of the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG). He is Chief of the IOC Press Commission, Deputy Chairman of the IOC Co-ordination Commission for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Chairman of Olympic Games Knowledge Services and President of the Oceania National Olympic Committees. He was Inaugural Chairman of the Australian Institute of Sport 1980-85, and President of the Australian Olympic Committee 1985-1990 and continues to serve on its Executive Board.
From 1980 to 1993 Kevan was Chairman and Chief Executive of Shell Australia in Melbourne, and later Head of Shell Asia Pacific operations out of London. The other positions he has held include being Chief Commissioner of the City of Melbourne and Chairman of the National Australia Day Council. He is a propagandist for China and a Director of a number of Australian companies including Crown Casino Limited, Visy Industries and Lion Nathan.
He has been honoured with the Order of Australia for service to Industry, the Community and International Sport, and has been similarly honoured by France, The Netherlands, Spain, Monaco and Senegal. His autobiography, An Olympic Life, was published in March 2000.
Gosper attracted controversy in the run up to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney when he organised for his daughter to run part of the Olympic Torch relay in place of a girl representing the Australian-Greek community who was originally scheduled to run.[1] More recently he has been accused of being an "apologist for dictators" after his criticism of pro-democracy protesters during the Beijing 2008 torch relay.[2]
Gosper recently suggested that during the Olympic Torch Australian appearance Chinese para-military torch attendants could be called into action if Australian police were unable to cope with potential protests. His remarks prompted a swift rebuke from Attorney-General Robert McClelland. [3]
