Geoffrey "Geoff" John Henke,
AO is a former Australian
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
player and
Australian Olympic Committee
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Aus ...
official. He was the chef de mission of the Australian Winter Olympic delegations from 1976 until 1994, and is credited with ending the neglect of winter sports in Australia.
Olympic participation
Winter sports have traditionally been unattended to by Australian Olympic officials. In 1956, the ice hockey team offered to pay their own way and the only thing that they needed from the AOF was formal permission. However, the AOF never responded to their request, and they were unable to attend, and criticised the AOF for their disinterest. One of the affected athletes was Henke.
Henke became the chef de mission in 1976 and held the position for two decades, until
Ian Chesterman
Ian Andrew Chesterman (born 17 April 1959) is an Australian sports administrator serving as the current President of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), succeeding John Coates. He previously served as a Vice President of the AOC, and the Ch ...
took over in 1998.
[''The Compendium'', pp. 215–227.] Henke rose to become vice-president of the AOF,
[Gordon (1994), p. 412.] and is accredited with ending the AOF's neglect of winter sport.
[Gordon (1994), p. 421.] Up until Henke's appointment,
Colin Hickey and
Malcolm Milne
Malcolm Milne (born 9 November 1948) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Australia. Some sources give his birth date as 5 November 1948.
Born Beechworth, Victoria, and raised on the family tobacco farm in Myrtleford, Milne competed in ...
had been the only athletes to have placed in the top half of any event.
[Gordon (1994), p. 412.]
In 1981, Henke took AOF board members into the Australian Alps for a board meeting, allowing him to exploit the environment to promote winter sport. He said that the next Olympics "was the first time the AOF ever really got behind the winter team".[Gordon (1994), p. 422.]
He would feature in a minor controversy with Speed Skater, Colin Coates at the 1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, MohkÃnsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts†...
. While Coates, was officially listed as an Athlete for the games, he was in reality, there to coach the Speed Skating team, with his "Athlete" status, simply to enable Ice time. Coates would defy Henke and the Australian Ice Skating Federation, who had informed him, he could not race, and would end up taking part in the 10,000m race to compete at his sixth Olympic Games at age 41. Henke was so enraged at Coates, going behind his back, he almost pulled him off the Ice mid race, before deciding that, he would let Coates finish, before punishing him with a verbal attack.
The 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
was viewed as the potential start of a new era in Australian winter sports, with hopes that a maiden medal would result.[McAvaney, p. 132.] Australia's short track relay team went into the 1992 Olympics as world champions, but the team crashed in the semi-finals.[Gordon (1994), p. 426.] Kirstie Marshall
Kirstie Claire Marshall, OAM (born 21 April 1969) is an Australian aerial skier and Victorian state politician.
Marshall was an ex-gymnast who became an aerial skier at Mount Buller, Victoria. During her skiing career Marshall won over 40 Wo ...
was in the process of winning the World Cup series for the year, and was one of the favourites for the women's aerial skiing,[ but she crash-landed and finished seventh.][McAvaney p. 135.]
In 1994, Australia's short track relay team won Australia's first Winter Olympic medal, a bronze.[Andrew, p. 251.] It was a successful campaign for Henke's swansong; the largest team that Australia had sent apart from 1960, with 27 athletes, recorded an unprecedented five top 10 finishes. Marshall came sixth in aerials,[ while ]Kerryn Rim
Kerryn Michelle Pethybridge-Rim (born as ''Kerryn Michelle Pethybridge'' on 7 September 1962 in Myrtleford) is an Australian biathlete who competed at three Winter Olympics from 1992 to 1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Ye ...
placed eighth in the 15 km biathlon and Steven Bradbury
Steven John Bradbury OAM (born 14 October 1973) is an Australian former short track speed skater and four-time Olympian. He won the 1,000 m event at the 2002 Winter Olympics after all of his opponents were involved in a last-corner pile-u ...
and Nizielski of the medal-winning relay team placed eighth and tenth in the 500 m and 1,000 m short track events respectively.[Andrews, p. 252.] In contrast to the previous games, the Australians placed in the top half of the field in six of their eight individual starts.[Gordon (1994), p. 526.]
Development work
Malcolm Milne
Malcolm Milne (born 9 November 1948) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Australia. Some sources give his birth date as 5 November 1948.
Born Beechworth, Victoria, and raised on the family tobacco farm in Myrtleford, Milne competed in ...
's success prompted the eventual starting of the Australian Ski Federation by Henke, and their program to sponsor talented young skiers and send them to Europe to hone their craft, among them Steven Lee
Steven Lee (born 6 August 1962 in Falls Creek) is an Australian alpine skier. He competed in the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics, and had a competitive career lasting just on 25 years. He is the second of only 3 Australian skiers ever to ...
,[Gordon (1994), p. 420.] and Zali Steggall
Zali Steggall (born 16 April 1974) is an Australian politician, lawyer and former Olympic athlete. She has been independent member for Warringah since the 2019 Australian federal election when she defeated the incumbent, former Prime Minister ...
,[ and aerial skiers ]Jacqui Cooper
Jacqueline Cooper (born 6 January 1973) is an Australian motivational speaker and retired freestyle skier.
Skiing career
Cooper started skiing aerials at age 16 and was on the Australian team for 20 years. During her career she had many injurie ...
and Kirstie Marshall
Kirstie Claire Marshall, OAM (born 21 April 1969) is an Australian aerial skier and Victorian state politician.
Marshall was an ex-gymnast who became an aerial skier at Mount Buller, Victoria. During her skiing career Marshall won over 40 Wo ...
.[Gordon (2003), p. 280.]
After the 1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...
in Nagano Nagano may refer to:
Places
* Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan
** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture
*** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics
*** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano
*** Nagano Universi ...
, the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia
The Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) is an Olympic & federal government-funded elite sports training institution of Australia for the purpose of training athletes and coaches in sports involved in the Winter Olympics.
The Australian ...
(initially called the Australian Institute of Winter Sports) was created.[Gordon (2003), p. 282.] It was given a million-dollar annual budget and for the first time, Australia had a federal government-funded full-time training program to accompany the Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...
.[ This led to a steady rise in the number of Australians who have won medals at World Cup events in the immediate years after the OWIA’s creation. Henke was the inaugural chairman.
]
Family
He married 1952 Olympic representative in figure skating
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...
Gweneth Molony, and their daughter Joanne Henke
Joanne Henke (born 5 November 1958) is a former Australian alpine skier who represented Australia at the 1976 Winter Olympics. She is the daughter of former ice hockey player and Australian winter sports administrator Geoff Henke
Geoffrey "Ge ...
was a member of the downhill skiing team in 1976.[
]
Honours
Henke was made a Member of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
in 1987 and an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1999. In 1993 he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame
The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...
, and in 1998 he received the Olympic Order
The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Traditi ...
. He received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and a Centenary Medal
The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...
in 2001. In 2008, he became the first Australian to be made a lifetime member of the International Ski Federation
The ''Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard'' (FIS; en, International Ski and Snowboard Federation) is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the ...
.
In December 2009, it was announced that Rink 1 at Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
's soon-to-be-opened Medibank Icehouse would be named in Henke's honour.Official naming of the Henke Rink
- Medibank Icehouse, 2009-12-14. Retrieved 2015-06-14
See also
*Australia at the Winter Olympics
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Henke, Geoff
Australian ice hockey players
Australian sports executives and administrators
Olympic officials
Officers of the Order of Australia
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Recipients of the Olympic Order
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)