AOC Vice President Ron Harvey was presented with the prestigious International Olympic Committee Pierre de Coubertin medal at the AOC Annual General Meeting in Sydney today.

Harvey received the award for outstanding services to the Olympic movement.

While accepting his medal he spoke of the many outstanding Olympians who have worn the green and gold and for whom Australia can be proud.

“Over my career, I have had the opportunity to mingle with Presidents and Prime Minister, Monarchs and their Ministers, many famous people and even the occasional film star”, Harvey said.

“To my mind, none of these have demanded greater esteem than the athletes who wear their country’s colours on the world stage.”

Harvey, like AOC President John Coates earlier at the AGM, spoke of athletes’ responsibilities with their standards of behaviour.

“Some athletes and some sports seem to have forgotten the high standards and reputations that have been established over decades by their past champions.

“In this regard, let me say we, in the Olympic Movement, have an obligation to protect the reputation of past and present Olympians.

“We owe it to these Olympians to ensure that the standards they have set are not diminished or watered down.”

Harvey a long-time basketball player and coach has made an outstanding contribution to the development of Australian sport in a career spanning over 50 years.

His major achievements include Director of the Australian Institute of Sport 1987-88 and Chief Executive of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) 1988- 89.

Harvey was a Director of the Football Federation of Australia 2004-07 and a member of the Marketing & Television Advisory Board of FIFA 2005-07.

He has been a Vice President of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) since 2001 and a member of the AOC Executive since 1993 to the present.

Last year Harvey co-chaired the Committee organising the Australian leg of the Beijing Torch Relay through the streets of Canberra. In a letter to the IOC recommending Harvey for the award, AOC President John Coates praised his organisational skills.

“The fact that this leg of the torch relay was largely incident free and reflected well on the Olympic Movement was testament to Mr Harvey’s diplomatic and administrative skills” Coates wrote.

Previous winners of the Pierre de Coubertin medal include former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch.

The award was created by the IOC in 1997 and named after Baron De Coubertin the founder of the modern Olympics.

The medal pays tribute to people and organisations who through their teaching contribute to the promotion of Olympism.

AOC