Richard Kevan Gosper, AO (born 19 December 1933) is an Australian former athlete who mainly competed in the 400 metres. He was formerly a Vice President of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

, and combined Chairman and CEO of

Shell Australia Shell Australia is the Australian subsidiary of Shell. Shell has operated in Australia since 1901, initially delivering bulk fuel into Australia, then establishing storage and distribution terminals, oil refineries, and a network of service stat ...

1956 Summer Olympics

Gosper competed for Australia in the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

held in

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 ...

, Australia, where he won the silver medal in the 4 × 400 metre relay with his teammates

Graham Gipson Graham Gipson (''Graham Chater Gipson;'' born 21 May 1932) was an Australian athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. He competed for Australia in the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne in the 4 × 400 metre relay where he won the ...

, Leon Gregory and

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...

International Olympic Committee

Gosper was nominated to the

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 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

, chairman of Olympic Games Knowledge Services and president of the

Oceania National Olympic Committees The Oceania National Olympic Committees (acronym: ONOC) is an international organization that congregates the 17 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of Oceania. It often assembles with other continental NOCs in the form of the Association of Nati ...

. He was inaugural chairman of 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 ...

1980–85, and president of the Australian Olympic Committee 1985–1990 and continues to serve on its executive board. From 1980 to 1993 Gosper was chairman and chief executive of

, and later head of Shell Asia Pacific operations out of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The other positions he has held include being

chief commissioner A chief commissioner is a commissioner of a high rank, usually in chief of several commissioners or similarly styled officers. Colonial In British India the gubernatorial style was chief commissioner in various (not all) provinces (often after be ...

of the

City of Melbourne The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The ci ...

and chairman of the

National Australia Day Council The National Australia Day Council (NADC) is a non-profit social enterprise owned by the Australian Government and is the national coordinating body for the Australian of the Year awards and Australia Day. It was established in 1979 and inc ...

. He was a director of a number of Australian companies, including

Crown Resorts Crown Resorts Limited is Australia's largest gaming and entertainment group that owns and operates two of Australia's leading gambling and entertainment complexes, Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth. It was listed on the Australian Securities Exc ...

Visy Visy Industries (known as Pratt Industries USA in the US) is an Australian-American company was established in Melbourne in 1948 and is a privately owned paper, packaging and recycling company. Visy was owned by Richard Pratt until his death ...

and

Lion Nathan Lion is an alcoholic beverage company that operates in Australia and New Zealand, and a subsidiary of Japanese beverage conglomerate Kirin. It produces and markets a range of beer and cider in Australia, and wine in New Zealand and the Unite ...

. His autobiography, ''An Olympic Life'', was published in March 2000. In May 2000, Gosper was criticized 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 The Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) ( el, Ελληνική Ολυμπιακή Επιτροπή) is the governing Olympic body of Greece. It is the second oldest National Olympic Committee in the world (after the French Olympic Committee), it o ...

to be the second carrier of the Olympic flame in Greece. Gosper apologized days later due to public outrage, though he insisted he was not involved in the decision. He was accused of being an "apologist for dictators" after his criticism of pro-democracy protesters during the Beijing 2008 torch relay. 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.

Honours

Gosper was made an Officer 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 1986, and 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 ...

in 1989. He received an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

in 2000 for services to athletics and the Olympic movement, and has been similarly honoured by

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 ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

and

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gosper, Kevan 1933 births Living people Australian male sprinters Australian Olympic Committee administrators Australian International Olympic Committee members Australian sports executives and administrators Olympic silver medalists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Australia International Olympic Committee members People educated at Newcastle Boys' High School Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Shell plc people