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Australian national team blazer jacket personally-owned and -worn by Chef de Mission Phillip W. Coles at the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics. The blazer, no size, features vertical stripes of green and gold, Australia’s national colors, with gold-tone buttons to the cuffs and waist, and the left chest embroidered with the Australian coat of arms, the Olympic rings, and gold-wire bullion lettering, “General Manager, Olympic Games 1980.” The inner lining features the original Fletcher Jones label. In fine condition.
Phil Coles played an important role in Australia’s Olympic history, first as an athlete and later as an administrator. Coles competed in canoe sprints at the 1960 Rome, 1964 Tokyo, and 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games. After serving as the canoe/kayak section manager at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Cole became a member of the Executive Board of the Australian Olympic Committee in 1973 and then served with distinction as Chef de Mission at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
After he died in 2023, IOC President Thomas Bach remarked: ‘He was key to getting an Australian Olympic team to the Olympic Games Moscow 1980 against all requests for a boycott. It made him proud for the rest of his life to have led these athletes into the Olympic Stadium. His love for the Olympic Games was at the centre of his life.’
From the Phillip W. Coles Collection
