Australia at the 1988 Winter Olympics
Encyclopedia
Australia
competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics
in Calgary
, Canada
.
Eighteen athletes participated, competing in alpine skiing
, biathlon
, cross-country skiing
, figure skating
and speed skating
, and for the first time bobsleigh
. Australia's best result was tenth by Danny Kah in the 5000 metres speed skating.
Australia also participated in the demonstration sports of mogul freestyle skiing
and short track speed skating
.
There had earlier been hopes that Janine Shepherd
would do well at these Olympics, but she was hit by a car and made a paraplegic while training for it.
This was the sixth Winter Olympics for Colin Coates, having competed in every Winter Olympics since 1968. Although registered as a competitor, he was regarded by the AOC as an official. General manager and Chef de Mission Geoff Henke
later said about this arrangement
He unsuccessfully tried to convince the Geoff to allow him to compete, saying "No Colin, it's not on. Your own sport won't nominate you, and that's the end of it. You're training with the athletes, but not skating in the Games. You've known that since we left Australia". After other rejected requests, he gave the impression of accepting the situation. "I had the power to take his entry out, and probably that's what I should have done. But I trusted him. He knew that he was not to compete." Instead, when the event was on, he put on a uniform and skated his best time ever.
After the race, Geoff ran on the ice without skates and reprimanded him:
Coates wept in response. Colin then received congratulations for skating at six Olympics, including from the prime minister Bob Hawke
. Geoff relented "At that point, I settled for discretion rather than valour. I stopped going crook. The man was a public hero. He did the wrong thing by me, but his was an incredible performance, and nobody could ever take that away from him."
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics
1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...
in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Eighteen athletes participated, competing in alpine skiing
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
, biathlon
Biathlon
Biathlon is a term used to describe any sporting event made up of two disciplines. However, biathlon usually refers specifically to the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting...
, cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...
, figure skating
Figure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
and speed skating
Speed skating
Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...
, and for the first time bobsleigh
Bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled that are combined to calculate the final score....
. Australia's best result was tenth by Danny Kah in the 5000 metres speed skating.
Australia also participated in the demonstration sports of mogul freestyle skiing
Mogul skiing
Mogul skiing is a type of freestyle skiing where skiers ski terrain characterized by a large number of different bumps, or moguls.-Moguls:...
and short track speed skating
Short track speed skating
Short track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters skate on an oval ice track with a circumference of 111.12 m...
.
There had earlier been hopes that Janine Shepherd
Janine Shepherd
Janine Lee Shepherd, AM was a champion Australian cross-country skier until she suffered major injuries when hit by a truck during training. Before the accident, she had been considered a strong chance to win Australia's first ever medal at the Winter Olympics...
would do well at these Olympics, but she was hit by a car and made a paraplegic while training for it.
Alpine skiing
- Combined: Steven Lee (disqualified), Peter Forras (disqualified)
- Downhill: Steven Lee (22nd/45), Peter Forras (DNF)
- Giant slalom: Richard Biggins, Steven Lee (36th/69)
- Slalom: Richard Biggins (DNF)
- Super-G: Richard Biggins (31st/57), Steven Lee (DNF)
Biathlon
- 10km: Andrew Paul (62nd/72)
- 20km: Andrew Paul (57th/68)
Bobsleigh
- Two-man: Angus Stuart and Martin Harland (23rd/38), Adrian DiPiazza and Simon Dodd (26th)
- Four-man: Adrian DiPiazza, Martin Harland, Simon Dodd and Stephen Craig (23rd/25)
Cross-country skiing
- 15km: Chris Heberle, David Hislop
- 30km: Chris Heberle (45th), David Hislop (62nd)
Figure skating
- Men: Cameron MedhurstCameron MedhurstCameron Medhurst is an Australian figure skater. He is an eight time Australian national champion. He represented Australia at the 1984 Winter Olympics, where he placed 19th; at the 1988 Winter Olympics, where he again placed 19th; and at the 1992 Winter Olympics, where he placed 16th.He works as...
(19th/28) - Women: Tracey Brook (25th/31)
- Ice dancing: Monica MacDonaldMonica MacDonaldMonica MacDonald was an Australian ice dancer. She was a seven time champion at the Australian Figure Skating Championships....
and Rodney ClarkeRodney Clarke (figure skater)Rodney Clarke was an Australian ice dancer. He was a four times Senior Australian Ice Dance champion at the Australian Figure Skating Championships....
(20th/20)
Speed skating
- 500m: Michael RichmondMike Richmond (skater)Michael "Mike" Richmond is a former ice speed skater from Australia, who represented his native country in three consecutive Winter Olympics, starting in 1980 in Lake Placid, United States....
(23rd/36) - 1000m: Michael RichmondMike Richmond (skater)Michael "Mike" Richmond is a former ice speed skater from Australia, who represented his native country in three consecutive Winter Olympics, starting in 1980 in Lake Placid, United States....
(14th/36), Phillip TahmindjisPhillip TahmindjisPhillip Tahmindjis is a former ice speed skater from Australia, who represented his native country in three consecutive Winter Olympics, starting in 1988 in Calgary, Canada.-Achievements:...
(31st) - 1500m: Michael RichmondMike Richmond (skater)Michael "Mike" Richmond is a former ice speed skater from Australia, who represented his native country in three consecutive Winter Olympics, starting in 1980 in Lake Placid, United States....
(12th/39), Danny KahDanny KahDanny Kah is a former ice speed skater from Australia, who represented his native country in three consecutive Winter Olympics, starting in 1988 in Calgary, Canada....
(14th), Phillip TahmindjisPhillip TahmindjisPhillip Tahmindjis is a former ice speed skater from Australia, who represented his native country in three consecutive Winter Olympics, starting in 1988 in Calgary, Canada.-Achievements:... - 5000m: Danny KahDanny KahDanny Kah is a former ice speed skater from Australia, who represented his native country in three consecutive Winter Olympics, starting in 1988 in Calgary, Canada....
(10th/38) - 10000m: Colin CoatesColin CoatesColin Victor Coates is a former ice speed skater from Australia, who represented his native country in – a record – six consecutive Winter Olympics, starting in 1968 in Grenoble, France....
(26th)
This was the sixth Winter Olympics for Colin Coates, having competed in every Winter Olympics since 1968. Although registered as a competitor, he was regarded by the AOC as an official. General manager and Chef de Mission Geoff Henke
Geoff Henke
Geoff Henke is a former Australian ice hockey player and Australian Olympic Committee official. He was the chef de mission of the Australian Winter Olympic delegations from 1976 until 1994, and is credited with ending the neglect of winter sports in Australia....
later said about this arrangement
- His own parent organisation, the Australian Skating Union, refused to endorse him as a competitor. I asked them several times if perhaps he could compete, but they said no; they felt they should concentrate on building potential for the future. Finally we did list him among the entries, but on the strict understanding that he would not compete ... The listing boosted team numbers on paper, allowing us to provide adequate numbers of support staff, but more importantly the competitor status meant that Colin would be able to share ice time with the speed skaters, train with them, give them the benefit of his experience.
He unsuccessfully tried to convince the Geoff to allow him to compete, saying "No Colin, it's not on. Your own sport won't nominate you, and that's the end of it. You're training with the athletes, but not skating in the Games. You've known that since we left Australia". After other rejected requests, he gave the impression of accepting the situation. "I had the power to take his entry out, and probably that's what I should have done. But I trusted him. He knew that he was not to compete." Instead, when the event was on, he put on a uniform and skated his best time ever.
- I looked up, and all of a sudden I could see Colin. I thought at first it must have been an old video they were screening, but then I saw he had the current uniform on, and the realisation dawned that he was skating in the race, defying my orders. He had set the whole thing up behind my back. Some team members knew what he was up to. I actually leapt up and started running. I took off for the track, half a mile away through an underground tunnel. When I surfaced I was in the middle of the arena, ready to put my arms around his throat and drag him off. He was halfway through the event, the course announcer had mentioned that this was his sixth Games, and a lot of very enthusiastic people, including the King of Sweden, were cheering him on. I was as angry as I'd ever been, really wanting to bundle him off the course. Then I calmed down, and thought ... no, I'll finish up making history, too. I didn't want to do a Percy Cerutty kind of thing, so I waited until he finished.
After the race, Geoff ran on the ice without skates and reprimanded him:
- I told him in no uncertain terms what I thought of him. I used words I'd never normally use. As far as I was concerned, he'd skated illegally. I'd helped him a lot in his own sport, and he'd let me down.
Coates wept in response. Colin then received congratulations for skating at six Olympics, including from the prime minister Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
. Geoff relented "At that point, I settled for discretion rather than valour. I stopped going crook. The man was a public hero. He did the wrong thing by me, but his was an incredible performance, and nobody could ever take that away from him."