Former Australian IOC official and Olympian Kevan Gosper dies aged 90

SYDNEY (AP) — The Australian Olympic Committee says former high-ranking IOC member and Australian Olympian Kevan Gosper has died aged 90.

The AOC said in a statement that Gosper died Friday after a short illness.

Gosper won an Olympic silver medal on Australia’s 4-x-400-meter track relay team at the 1956 Melbourne Games and also competed at the Rome Olympics in 1960 before becoming more well-known as one of the country’s and world’s top sports administrators.

The former Australian Olympic Committee president was an IOC member from 1977 to 2013, when he was made an honorary member. Gosper served on the IOC Executive Board on two occasions from 1986-1990 and 1995-1999, was IOC chairman of the Press Commission from 1989 to 2013 and served two stints as an IOC vice-president.

He was the inaugural chairman of the Australian Institute of Sport from 1980, served as Australian Olympic Federation president and was a pivotal figure in delivering Sydney’s Olympics in 2000 when serving as vice-president of the organizing committee.

AOC President Ian Chesterman said Gosper left an indelible mark on Australian and world sport.

“Kevan was one of the true giants of the Olympic movement, not just in Australia but globally,” Chesterman said in the statement. “His loss will be felt enormously by so many of his friends who are gathering in Paris for the Olympic Games. There will be so many there from across the world who will have a heavy heart today with the news of Kevan’s passing.”

The AOC said Gosper is survived by his wife, Judy, and children Dean, Brett, Richard and Sophie.

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