Australia appoints first female medical director for Olympics at Paris 2024
Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has named Carolyn Broderick as the country’s first female medical director for an Olympic Games, with the Tennis Australia chief medical officer set to hold the role for Paris 2024.
The move has been described as a “key appointment” for the next Olympics, and Broderick described it as a “great privilege to be part of this team to ensure the health of each individual representing Australia in these challenging times”.
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Broderick has previously served as Australia’s team physician at Sydney 2000 and London 2012, and as its medical director at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympics.
She was deputy medical director at Rio 2016, a member of the AOC Medical Commission from 2013 to 2016, and has also served on the Australian Sports Drug Medical Advisory Committee and Medical Advisory Panel for the National Rugby League.
Broderick combines her current role as Tennis Australia chief medical officer with her positions as an associate professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and staff specialist in sport and exercise management at The Children’s Hospital in Westmead.
She succeeds David Hughes, who held the role for eight years and chaired the panel responsible for finding his replacement.
Hughes posted on Twitter that he believes the AOC is “in very safe hands”.
The appointment was approved by the AOC Executive in Brisbane, and President Ian Chesterman commended Broderick as well as her predecessor while emphasising the importance of the role for Paris 2024.
“We are very grateful to have this kind of expertise and experience available to us,” Chesterman said.
“Dr Broderick is exceptionally well qualified and understands the Olympic high-performance environment.
“This is such a critical position for our team.
“We saw in Tokyo how the high level and detailed medical advice provided by Dr David Hughes was fundamental to keeping our Australian team free from COVID in a really complex environment.
“Our athletes and sports can rest assured we have an exceptional person in Dr Broderick to succeed Dr Hughes in a role that oversees the team of medical professionals who will be on the ground in Paris looking after our Australian team.”
The AOC Executive also appointed Anik Shawdon and reappointed Miranda Menaspa to the organisation’s Medical Commission.
Australia ranked sixth on the medals table at Tokyo 2020, with 17 golds its joint-best performance at the Olympics.
The Paris 2024 Olympics are scheduled for July 26 to August 11.
Australia is due to host the Games for the third time in Brisbane in 2032.