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Dual Paralympian Bridie Kean has been named Australian Team Deputy Chef de Mission for Paris 2024, marking the first time in nearly a decade a Paralympian has been appointed to the crucial leadership role.
Kean will work under Chef de Mission Kate McLoughlin and alongside two other Deputy Chefs de Mission, Paralympics Australia’s Tim Mannion and Ben Troy, who have a combined 11 Paralympic Games’ experience.
Kean was a member of the Gliders women’s wheelchair basketball team that won the bronze medal at Beijing 2008 and silver at London 2012. She has a Master of Public Health, did a PhD on the balance between sport and study for Para-athletes and is on the Queensland Academy of Sport Advisory Board.
She was selected from a strong field to become the first Deputy Chef de Mission with experience as a Paralympian since former swimming champion Paul Bird filled the role at Rio 2016.
“The Paralympic Movement is something that, once you’re part of it, it changes your life so much,” Kean said. “To get to contribute back to it through this position is such an honour.
“I really want to get it right, learn as much as I can and, I guess, provide that lived experience to the leadership group about how we can best support our Paralympic team.”
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Kean said the Games atmosphere was thrilling but could feel pressurised.
“There’s so much going on. It’s two weeks of being in an incredible environment where you’re surrounded by this global movement. But at the same time, you’re there to compete in the event or discipline you’ve been training for four years. So it’s a huge amount of wanting to take it in, but also narrowing your focus.
“I can offer those insights, but ultimately I’ll be there to support Kate and support the Australian Paralympic Team in any way that’s needed.”
The idea to appoint a Paralympic alumnus to the position was McLoughlin’s.
“We had 22 outstanding applicants for the role, athletes who had represented Australia at Games ranging from 1988 and 2020 and have a great wealth of diversity, experience and leadership skill,” McLoughlin said.
“It made the decision incredibly difficult, but it’s wonderful to think how much leadership potential there is within the movement.”
McLoughlin, who has been Chef de Mission for the past two Summer Games, said Kean would add a new dimension to the ‘team behind the team’.
“Bridie has a wide breadth of sporting knowledge through her academic, working and sporting careers. That’s where I think she’ll be amazing for us, giving our athletes someone in a leadership position who understands what they’re going through, what they need to perform at their best and, importantly, how to make sure they enjoy and make the most of competing for Australia at the Paralympics.”
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By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 18 October 2023
