As they care for and manage hundreds of athletes in Paris, Olympic and Paralympic Chefs de Mission Anna Meares and Kate McLoughlin will also be looking out for each other.
Together with Commonwealth Games Chef de Mission and swimming legend Petria Thomas, Meares and McLoughlin are part of an exclusive group called the ‘Lady Chefs’, with the trio leaning on each other as they navigate the pressures and expectations of the job.
“When I got appointed in this role, Petria and Kate were some of the first people that reached out to congratulate me and welcome me into that space,” Meares said.
“Petria then created a chat group, which we call the Lady Chefs, and it's a really supportive environment to be able to talk vulnerably about some of the things that are hard about the role and to seek advice.
“It’s just really nice that we've kind of got each other's back in the space.”
Australia's 2024 Paris Olympic Chef de Mission Anna Meares
McLoughlin, who has been the Chef for three Paralympic teams, added: “Anna is just an amazing Australian sporting champion and I feel it's a bit of a pinch me moment to be sitting next to her in a leadership role.”
“I think our roles are very similar. We're both trying to provide the best possible performance environment for both the Olympic and Paralympic teams and to have someone who's going through the same thing at the same time is quite nice.”
The Australian Olympic Committee and Paralympics Australia are two of the 51 sports and organisations that have made the pledge to win well as part of Australia’s High Performance 2032+ Sport Strategy.
Win Well is the commitment to wellbeing being the foundation of sustainable success, and to balance ambitious performance goals with a culture of care, integrity, fair play and pride. McLoughlin said: “It is incredibly difficult to win a Paralympic or an Olympic medal and it's important to recognise that for each athlete, their victory doesn't necessarily look the same. For one athlete, it might be their very first Paralympic Games, it might be the first time on the podium, it might be a personal best.
“Regardless of what the outcome is, we need to celebrate all of those wins and provide the support around each and every athlete regardless of what the outcome is.”
Australia's 2024 Paris Paralympic Chef de Mission Kate McLoughlin with Paris-bound athletes.
Meares, who won six medals at four Olympic Games, added: “Sometimes it's forgotten that I was once a rookie on the team as well as once being the matriarch of the team. I have had great success, I have had great loss, I've been the flag bearer and the rookie.”
“I hope that athletes see me in the role that I am now as someone who appreciates every level that's on the cards ahead of them in terms of the emotional rollercoaster of performance and high performance at the highest level of a multi-sport games, the biggest event in the world.”
Check out the AASC Paris 2024 Olympic Brief to learn more about the Australian Olympic team and how the ASC and Australian Institute of Sport has supported athletes and sports on the road to the Games. A Paralympic Brief will be published ahead of August 28.
