On Thursday 12 February 2009 at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Awards in Canberra, the Chairman of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) Board, Greg Hartung, presented the AIS Program of the Year award to the AIS Under-23 Track Endurance/Road Cycling team after delivering the following speech.

‘The AIS Awards present an opportunity for celebration and reflection — we celebrate the outstanding achievements of our athletes and coaches, as well as the success of the many programs within the AIS and Australian Sports Commission (ASC). But tonight also gives us the opportunity to pause for a moment and reflect on what is fantastic about the Australian sport system and to re-energise ourselves for the challenges ahead.

‘Australia has a great track record in sport. It is a system built on the foundation of some 60 000 sports clubs throughout the country and a wonderful army of volunteers and officials who make the system tick. We are part of what is probably the largest and most dynamic community movement in the country. The performances of our elite athletes and teams provide the stimulus for an estimated 3.8 million Australians to become engaged in organised sport and a further 1.6 million to be involved as coaches, officials or administrators. The performances of our elite sports men and women, to which the AIS is a key contributor, provide an unrivalled catalyst to create a more active Australia domestically, and a more highly regarded country internationally. Sport is the great connector and it is a fundamental part of our way of life.

‘Australian sport has a rich and colourful heritage. It has regularly confronted challenges and overcome them. Witness the challenges that Australia faced leading into the Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2000. And, on the edge of a new decade, there will undoubtedly be new challenges. But Australian athletes and coaches will do what they have always done: get on with the job of being the best they possibly can be.
 
‘At the ASC we recognise the important leadership role we have to play in bringing sports and other partners together to review performances and operational relationships and to build on past successes. Our system is world-class and we have worked tirelessly since the Beijing Games to ensure that we work in close cooperation and harmony with our partners at state and territory level and with key agencies, such as the Olympic and Paralympic Committees and Australian Commonwealth Games Association, as well as with the national sport governing bodies.

‘The AIS used the commencement of the new quadrennium to undertake a structural and operational review of how it is helping to develop champions. The result is a new service model to maximise integration across the AIS — including research, sports science and sports medicine, and program management — and to ensure consistency with the priorities of sport.

‘In addition, under the guidance of ASC CEO Matt Miller, the Commission included our partners in a comprehensive consultative strategic planning process that focused on the entire sports system and the whole of sport pathway. From individual sports to the Australian Olympic Committee and Australian Paralympic Committee the ASC has consulted on this direction and has developed agreements with our partners to guide the way ahead. This includes a more coordinated approach to delivering high performance programs for athletes, which involves the Standing Committee on Recreation and Sport, the National Elite Sports Council and the peak Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games agencies.

‘Everyone and every organisation within our sport system has contributed to the outstanding achievements we have witnessed over the past year, and which we applaud this evening. But I wish to single out a couple of people here tonight who are the sport science and sport medicine equivalents of world championships: the Director of the AIS, Professor Peter Fricker, and the Head of AIS Sports Nutrition, Professor Louise Burke, both of whom were recognised for their achievements this year.

‘Professor Burke was the recipient of a 2009 Citation Award from the American College of Sports Medicine for her outstanding scientific and scholarly contributions to sports medicine and the exercise sciences throughout her career.

‘Professor Fricker was honoured for distinguished service to the Australasian College of Sports Physicians and to sports medicine. The award acknowledges excellence in Professor Fricker’s work as a leading practitioner in Australian sport and exercise medicine. It is a major accolade for Peter Fricker, given that the award has been bestowed only seven times in the 24-year history of the College.

‘Finally, to return to the theme I began with, I acknowledge and congratulate our athletes, coaches and administrators on some outstanding performances.

‘I am currently reflecting on the breathtaking performances of Kurt Fearnley, our distance wheelchair champion, in winning two of the toughest marathons in the world over the last two months against fearsome opposition.

‘I am reminded that “life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away”. The world of sport will continue to capture the hearts and minds of Australians.

‘Tonight I have the pleasure of announcing the AIS Program of the Year Award. The winner of the AIS Program of the Year is the Under-23 Track Endurance/Road Cycling.’