Team Gurus
During the 2008 Olympic Games, the Australian Olympic team will be boosted by four Australian sporting legends. Kate Allen, John Eales and Steve Waugh will act as athlete liaison officers and Laurie Lawrence will be chief team motivator. All will liase with the athletes, delivering motivational speeches and acting as ambassadors of the Australian Olympic Committee.
Kate Allen – Athlete Liaison Officer
Three-time rowing Olympian Kate Allen (nee Slatter) will bring vital Olympic experience to the Athlete Liaison team.
Allen finished in 6th place in the Women’s Four at her first Olympic Games in 1992. She went on to win a gold and silver medal in the same event at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games respectively.
Kate knows how at times the Olympic Games can be somewhat of a circus and admits that it took her one Games to find her feet and learn how to ignore the distractions.
Allen will share her experiences with the team, in particular with first time Olympians about her secrets to short cutting their Olympic ‘baptism’.
John Eales – Athlete Liaison Officer
John Eales participated in two successful World Cup campaigns; captained the Wallabies in memorable victories including the 1999 World Cup; led Australia through three Bledisloe Cup wins and two successful seasons of Tri-Nations fixtures and he also led the Wallabies to the first ever defeat of the British and Irish Lions. John has and continues to be a great ambassador for rugby. A genial nature and natural leadership qualities have made John one of the most respected figures in world rugby.
Following retirement, John embarked on a new journey in the corporate world. He has developed the John Eales 5 brand which deals in corporate hospitality. John is also a consultant to the BT Financial Group and Fairfax columnist.
In 2004 John attended the Athens Olympic Games as an Athlete Liaison Officer for the Australian Olympic Team. He will repeat this role at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.
Steve Waugh – Athlete Liaison Officer
Steve Waugh’s life in international cricket was almost unprecedented in terms of the way it combined durability with excellence and triumph over more than a decade. His career was not quite one of total, sustained success — he took three and a half years to score his first Test century and was dropped for 18 months in 1991–1992 — but he evolved from these setbacks to become arguably the toughest, most mentally strong cricketer of his generation.
He also became one of the game’s ‘winningest’ players — appearing in 86 Test-match victories (only 14 Australians have played in 86 or more Tests) and leading his country to more Test wins than any other captain in the sport’s history.
Laurie Lawrence – Team Motivator
Laurie Lawrence is a former Australian Rugby Union representative as well as an Olympic and World Champion swimming coach.
In Beijing, Laurie will be stationed in the Athletes’ Village as the team motivator, a role he played in both Athens and Sydney. Beijing will be Laurie’s seventh Olympic Games as an official giving him a wealth of experience to impart on the country’s athletes.
He is well known throughout Australia as a maker of champions. His energetic personality is capable of lifting spirits to soaring heights, a priceless attribute during Games time.
Laurie will stage special events in the Village, form team cheer squads, celebrate special events such as athlete birthdays, organise orientation tours for team arrivals and contribute to the daily team newsletter A.S.P.I.R.E.