Helen Brownlee

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Helen Brownlee
AM
Born (1945-05-18) 18 May 1945 (age 79)
Sydney, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Known forFirst woman to be elected as one of the vice presidents of the Australian Olympic Committee Executive Board
Honours Medal of the Order of Australia (1985)
Olympic Order (2015)
Member of the Order of Australia (2018)

Helen Margaret Brownlee AM (born 18 May 1945) [1] is an Australian executive with the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC). In 2013, she was the first woman to be elected as one of the vice presidents of the AOC executive board.

The daughter of a founding member of Australian Canoeing, Brownlee began canoeing at a young age. She specialised in canoe slalom and served as a judge at various Summer Olympic Games. In 1976, Brownlee became the first woman elected to the International Canoe Federation (ICF) Slalom and Wildwater Committee and was eventually promoted to the ICF Board of Management.

In 1985, Brownlee was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her contributions to the sport of canoeing [2] and received the Australian Sports Medal in 2000. [3] In 2015, she was honoured with the Olympic Order for her contribution to the Olympic Games and was inducted into Sport Australia Hall of Fame. In 2018, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia for "significant service to sports administration, to women as an advocate for greater participation in sport, and to the Olympic movement". [4]

Career

Brownlee was born to father Os Brownlee, a founding member of Australian Canoeing. With his paddling experience, he helped raise and train her in competitive canoeing. [5] [6]

With her father's help, Brownlee trained on the Parramatta River in the K1 and K2 classes but shortly thereafter switched to canoe slalom. [6] Brownlee won Australia’s first international slalom medal; [7] however, because Australian Canoeing focused mostly on sprint canoeing, she was unable to compete in the 1972 Summer Olympics. [6] As a result, Brownlee served as a judge for both the 1972 and 1988 Summer Olympic Games and later was a member of the competition jury at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. [5] In 1976, Brownlee became the first woman elected to the International Canoe Federation (ICF) Slalom and Wildwater Committee and was eventually promoted to the ICF Board of Management. [8] In 1985, Brownlee was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for her canoeing career and contributions. [7]

In 1992, Brownlee created the Pierre de Coubertin Awards to recognise secondary school students who are active participants in sport and demonstrate fair play and sportsmanship. [9] [10] After the 2000 Summer Olympics saw a rise in female slalom canoeists, Brownlee was awarded the 2002 Trophy for Oceania by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for encouraging females to participate in Olympic canoeing. [11]

Starting from the 1972 Olympics, Brownlee served as an official or jury member for the sport of canoeing until 2010. [12] In 2010, Brownlee was inducted into the International Whitewater Hall of Fame. [8]

In 2013, following referendums for gender equality, Brownlee became the first woman to be elected as one of the vice presidents on the Australian Olympic Committee. [13] While serving as vice-president, Brownlee was inducted as a General Member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2015. [6]

Since 2015, she has served as Chair of the Oceania National Olympic Committees Women and Sport Commission which encourages female participation in sports [14] as well as president of the Commonwealth Canoe Federation and Oceania Canoe Association. [6] On 5 May 2015, Brownlee was awarded the Olympic Order for her contributions to bringing international recognition to the sport of canoeing. [15]

In 2017, both Brownlee and her father were inducted into the Paddle Australia Hall of Fame. [16] She was later re-elected to her vice presidency position with the AOC alongside Ian Chesterman that same year. [17]

In 2018, Brownlee was awarded the Order of Australia [5] and was appointed to the International Olympic Committee Education Commission. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canoeing</span> Activity of paddling a canoe

Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildwater canoeing</span> Type of boat racing

Wildwater canoeing is a competitive discipline of canoeing in which kayaks or canoes are used to negotiate a stretch of river speedily. It is also called "Whitewater racing" or "Downriver racing" to distinguish it from whitewater slalom racing and whitewater rodeo or Freestyle competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canoe slalom</span> Competitive water sport

Canoe slalom is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible. It is one of two kayak and canoeing disciplines at the Summer Olympics, and is referred to by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as Canoe/Kayak Slalom. The other Olympic canoeing discipline is canoe sprint. Wildwater canoeing is a non-Olympic paddlesport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michal Martikán</span> Slovak slalom canoeist (born 1979)

Michal Martikán is a Slovak slalom canoeist who has been competing at the international level since 1994. In 1996 he became the first athlete to win an Olympic gold medal for Slovakia since the country gained independence in 1993. In total he won 5 Olympic medals, which is the most among all slalom paddlers. He has also won the World Championship title in the C1 individual category four times.

David Watson Ford is a Canadian slalom canoeist who has competed since the mid-1980s and is still actively competing. He is Canada's most successful slalom paddler.

Susan O'Neill, is an Australian former competitive swimmer from Brisbane, Queensland, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly". She achieved eight Olympic Games medals during her swimming career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Canoe Federation</span> International canoeing governing body

The International Canoe Federation (ICF) is the umbrella organization of all national canoe organizations worldwide. It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and administers all aspects of canoe sport worldwide. 157 countries are affiliated with the ICF after seven national federations were added at the 2008 ICF Congress in Rome.

The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two top-tier Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation. They are usually held every non-Olympic year and have officially included paracanoe events since 2010; paracanoe-specific editions of this event are usually held in Summer Paralympic years.

Richard Munro Fox is a British slalom canoeist who competed for Great Britain from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. He won eleven medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with ten golds and a bronze. Fox also won the overall World Cup title three times and the Euro Cup four times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pavol Hochschorner</span> Slovak slalom canoeist (born 1979)

Pavol Hochschorner is a retired Slovak slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 1996 to 2017. Competing together with his twin brother Peter Hochschorner, they are the most successful C2 paddlers in the history of canoe slalom. They retired from canoe slalom in 2018 after the C2 event was discontinued and subsequently switched to wildwater canoeing. They retired from wildwater canoeing after the 2021 World Championships in their hometown Bratislava.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Hochschorner</span> Slovak slalom canoeist (born 1979)

Peter Hochschorner is a retired Slovak slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 1996 to 2017. Competing together with his twin brother Pavol Hochschorner, they are the most successful C2 paddlers in the history of canoe slalom. They retired from canoe slalom in 2018 after the C2 event was discontinued and subsequently switched to wildwater canoeing. They retired from wildwater canoeing after the 2021 World Championships in their hometown Bratislava.

Tony Estanguet is a French slalom canoeist and a three-time Olympic champion in C1. He competed at the international level from 1994 to 2012.

Clint David Robinson, OAM, born 27 July 1972, is an Australian sprint kayaker and surf lifesaver. He won three medals at the Summer Olympics: gold in the K-1 1000 meters at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, silver in the K-2 500 meters at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and bronze in the K-1 1000 meters at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Phillip Walter Coles was an Australian sports administrator and canoe sprinter. Competing at the 1960 Rome, 1964 Tokyo, and 1968 Mexico City Olympics, he earned his best finish of ninth in the K-4 1000 m event at the Tokyo games, where he was also the team captain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Fox (canoeist)</span> Australian canoeist (born 1994)

Jessica Esther Fox is a French-born Australian Olympic and world champion slalom canoeist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosalyn Lawrence</span> Australian canoeist

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Michael A. Chambers is the former president of the Canadian Olympic Committee and senior partner at Maclaren Corlett LLP. As of 2021, Chambers serves as chair of the Association of National Olympic Committees Legal Commission, chair of the Panam Sports Legal Commission, and chair of the Ethics Commission of the International Canoe Federation.

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Catherine "Cat" McArthur is an Australian canoeist. She qualified to represent Australia at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Her team consisting of Jo Brigden-Jones, Shannon Reynolds and Jaime Roberts made the women's K-4 final but failed to win a medal, coming 7th with a time of 1:39.797 over two seconds slower than their best time in the heats.

References

  1. ↑ Who's Who in Australia. ConnectWeb. 2019.
  2. ↑ "Miss Helen Margaret Brownlee". It's An Honour. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  3. ↑ "Miss Helen Brownlee". It's An Honour. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  4. ↑ "Ms Helen Margaret Brownlee OAM". It's An Honour. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "Paddle Australia congratulates Helen Brownlee on Queens Birthday Honours". paddle.org.au. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Helen Brownlee to join Sport Australia Hall of Fame". olympics.com.au. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Helen Brownlee OAM". paddle.org.au. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  8. 1 2 "Helen Brownlee Australia". iwhof.org. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  9. ↑ Etchells, Daniel (19 June 2017). "Australian Olympic Committee presents 70 students with Pierre de Coubertin award". insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  10. ↑ Knight, Ashleigh (16 June 2017). "Pierre de Coubertin award turns 25!". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  11. ↑ "IOC 2002 WOMEN & SPORT TROPHY WINNERS". olympic.org. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  12. ↑ "Helen Brownlee: A Lady of Many Firsts!". sportscene.tv. 24 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  13. ↑ Lane, Samantha (5 April 2013). "Women added to AOC board". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  14. ↑ "Promotion of women in sport: action in Europe". olympic.org. 11 May 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  15. ↑ "Olympic Order awarded to Helen Brownlee". olympics.com.au. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  16. ↑ "Canoeing greats recognised in inaugural Hall of Fame". olympics.com.au. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  17. ↑ "John Coates re-elected AOC President". olympics.com.au. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  18. ↑ "Helen Brownlee, AM, amongst Seven Australians Appointed to IOC Commissions". paddle.org.au. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
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