Kevan Gosper

{{Short description|Australian athlete and administrator (1933–2024)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-suffix = AO

| name = Richard Kevan Gosper

| image = Kevan Gosper - 1951.jpg

| caption = Gosper in 1951

| nationality = Australian

| order = Chief Commissioner of Melbourne

| term_start = 1993

| term_end = 1996

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| predecessor =

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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|12|19|df=y}}

| birth_place = Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|7|19|1933|12|19|df=y}}https://www.msn.com/en-au/sport/other/australian-olympic-powerbroker-kevan-gosper-dies-aged-90/ar-BB1qfwSE {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}

| death_place =

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}}

{{MedalTableTop|name=no|medals=

{{MedalCountry| {{AUS}} }}

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Richard Kevan Gosper, AO{{cite web |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/886419 |title=Gosper, Richard Kevan, AO |publisher=It's an Honour |access-date=22 September 2013}} (19 December 1933 – 19 July 2024) was an Australian athlete who mainly competed in the 400 metres. He was a Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, and combined Chairman and CEO of Shell Australia. Gosper died on 19 July 2024, at the age of 90.[https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/olympic-powerbroker-kevan-gosper-dies-aged-90/ar-BB1qfB4W Olympic powerbroker Kevan Gosper dies, aged 90] MSN

Running career{{anchor|1956 Summer Olympics}}

Gosper ran for the Michigan State Spartans track and field team, finishing 4th in the 400 m at the 1955 NCAA track and field championships.{{cite web |url=https://www.ustfccca.org/records-lists/meet-history-by-event?gender=1&series=3369&event=4 |title=400 meters at the NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships |website=USTFCCCA |access-date=28 December 2024}}

Gosper competed for Australia in the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia, where he won the silver medal in the 4 × 400 metre relay with his teammates Graham Gipson, Leon Gregory and David Lean. Their run set a new Australian record of 3 min 6.2 sec.{{cite news |date=3 December 1956 |title=Our Boys Win a Medal They Didn't Expect |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71769193 |accessdate=21 July 2024 |newspaper=The Argus (Melbourne) |location=Victoria, Australia |page=19 |via=National Library of Australia}}

International Olympic Committee

Gosper was nominated to the International Olympic Committee in 1977; was a vice president of the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG). He was 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 1980–1985, and president of the Australian Olympic Committee 1985–1990 and continued to serve on its executive board.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

From 1980 to 1993 Gosper 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 held include being chief commissioner of the City of Melbourne and chairman of the National Australia Day Council. He was a director of a number of Australian companies, including Crown Resorts, Visy and Lion Nathan.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

His autobiography, An Olympic Life, was published in March 2000.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

In May 2000, Gosper was criticised after his daughter Sophie was made the first Australian torchbearer in a late change over the previously selected Greek-Australian Yianna Souleles. At age 11, Sophie Gosper was too young by one year to carry the torch in Australia, but was invited by the Hellenic Olympic Committee to be the second carrier of the Olympic flame in Greece.{{cite web |url=https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/lifestyle/gold-coast-130/remember-when-controversy-surrounded-the-lighting-of-the-olympic-torch-for-sydney-in-2000/news-story/0dd9fb9ac3aedcfae60dc42a46a93b44 |title=Remember when: controversy surrounded the lighting of the Olympic torch for Sydney in 2000 |publisher=Gold Coast Bulletin |date=27 January 2016 |access-date=20 April 2020}} Gosper apologised days later due to public outrage, though he insisted he was not involved in the decision.{{cite web |url=https://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s126454.htm |title=Kevan Gosper apologises |publisher=ABC News |date=13 May 2000 |access-date=20 April 2020}}

He was accused of being an "apologist for dictators" after his criticism of pro-democracy protesters during the Beijing 2008 torch relay.{{cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411012051/http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/china_torched_5/ |archive-date=11 April 2008 |url=http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/china_torched_5/ |title=China torched #5 |first=Andrew |last=Bolt |author-link=Andrew Bolt |newspaper=Herald Sun |date=9 April 2008 |access-date=3 April 2018}} He 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 Australian Attorney-General Robert McClelland.{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23547274-2702,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811185058/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/gosper-rebuked-on-flame-security/story-e6frg6nx-1111116073739 |archive-date=11 August 2011 |title=Gosper rebuked on flame security |first1=Samantha |last1=Maiden |first2=Paul |last2=Maley |newspaper=The Australian |date=16 April 2008 |access-date=3 April 2018}}

Honours

Gosper was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 1986 Australia Day Honours for service to sport and sports administration,{{cite web |title=AD86 |url=https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/AD86.pdf |accessdate=16 January 2023 |publisher=Governor General's Office of Australia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020002432/http://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/AD86.pdf |archive-date=20 October 2018 |url-status=dead}} and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1989.{{cite web |url=https://sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame-member/kevan-gosper/ |title=Kevan Gosper |publisher=Sport Australia Hall of Fame |access-date=24 September 2020}} He received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 for services to athletics and the Olympic movement,{{cite web |title=It's an Honour |publisher=Government of Australia |url=http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/awards/medals/sports_medal.cfm |access-date=10 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110216143502/http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/awards/medals/sports_medal.cfm |archive-date=16 February 2011}} and was similarly honoured by France, the Netherlands, Spain, Monaco and Senegal and Solomon Islands.