Christopher John Nunn, OAM (born 18 December 1958) is an Australian athletics coach. He was the head coach of the Australian athletics team at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics.

Personal life

He was born in

Maffra, Victoria Maffra is a town in Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Wellington local government area and it is the second most populous city of the Shire. It relies mainly on dairy farming and other agriculture, and was the si ...

on 18 December 1958 and lived his first eight years in the nearby town of

Heyfield Heyfield is a town in Victoria, Australia, with a population of 1,993. It is east of Melbourne, in the Shire of Wellington local government area. Located on the Thomson River, Heyfield is a gateway to the Victorian High Country. History In 1 ...

. Nunn has a brother and two sisters and in 1976, his family moved to a farm called Leura Hill near Myponga in South Australia. He attended Yankalilla Area School, his interest in sport, particularly athletics, was heightened through the school's physical education teacher, Lance Rosser. After leaving school, he worked as an insurance clerk for two years in Adelaide. In addition, he and athletics friend Robin Gorringe coached athletics during the school holidays. In 1985, he graduated with a Bachelor of Education in physical education and biology at the South Australian College of Advanced Education, now the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1991, it is the successor of the former South Australian Institute of Technology. Its main campuses along North Terrace are ...

. In 1990, after teaching for four years in several South Australian high schools, Chris and his new partner Vicki opened a general store in Port Vincent. With wife Vicki, he has four children; he was previously married to Olympic athlete

Glynis Nunn Glynis Leanne Nunn Order of Australia, OAM (née Saunders; born 4 December 1960) is a former Australian heptathlon, heptathlete, the first Olympic Games, Olympic champion in the event. Biography Born in Toowoomba, Queensland, she began compe ...

(née Saunders). Chris Nunn has stated that the greatest influences on his life have been his parents, Lance Rosser and Dr John Daly, Australian athletics Olympic coach. Chris and his wife Vicki are heavily involved in local athletics.

Athletics career

In 1981, he moved to Brisbane to be closer to his partner and athlete Glynis Nunn (née Saunders). Due to the lack of coaching in Brisbane, they returned to Adelaide. He won national title medals in men's 110m hurdles and decathlon. He and Glynis competed at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

in Brisbane. He competed in the men's decathlon but withdrew during the event due to injury. At the

1984 Olympic Games The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an i ...

in Los Angeles, his wife Glynis won the gold medal in the women's heptathlon. In the lead up to the Games, he coached his wife in shot put and javelin. He retired from competitive athletics in 1989.

Paralympic career

301000 - Athletics Australian head coach Chris Nunn head shot 3 - 3b - 2000 Sydney portrait photo

23 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Track Sharon Rackham Chris Nunn

Nunn attended the

1988 Summer Paralympics The 1988 Summer Paralympics () were the first Paralympics in 24 years to take place in the same city as the 1988 Summer Olympics, Olympic Games. They took place in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time the term "Paralympic" was used officia ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

as a support coach for amputee track and field athletes. In December 1990, he was offered a part-time coaching position in the new Athletes with a Disability program at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS). In conjunction with this position, he was contracted to write the book ''Coaching Amputee Athletes''. He held this position for five years before being promoted to head coach of the program in 1996. Nunn has stated that he was the first paid athletics with a disability coach in the world. He has directly coached notable Australian athletes – John Eden, Hamish MacDonald, Rodney Nugent and David Evans and advised many other leading Australian Paralympic athletes. He attended four successive

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

from 1988 to 2000 as an athletics coach and was head athletics coach at the 2000 Sydney Games. At the 2000 Games, the Australian athletics team won 35 gold, 15 silver and 16 bronze medals. In November 2000, he was appointed head coach of the Australian Institute of Sport Athletics program. Nunn's appointment resulted in the integration of athletes with a disability into the AIS Athletics program. In 2002, he was awarded a medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for services as a coach of athletes with a disability, particularly Australian Paralympic athletes. In 2003,

Athletics Australia Australian Athletics is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Australian Sports Commission for the sport of athletics in Australia. Founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 reg ...

and the AIS decided to restructure the AIS program and appointed a high performance manager. Nunn's position was downgraded to senior throws coach and he subsequently left the AIS. Whilst at the AIS, Nunn played a significant role in establishing, developing and gaining acceptance of high performance programs for athletes with a disability. In 2004, he established a King's Swim School in the Canberra suburb of Macgregor. Nunn returned to high performance sport in 2009 when he was appointed manager of high performance,

Australian Paralympic Committee Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian tea ...

. He still plays an active role in junior sport as a coach at Ginninderra Tiger Athletics. In November 2013, Nunn was appointed chef de mission for the Australian Team for the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympics. He replaced Kate McLoughlin who stepped down due to family reasons.

Recognition

* 1994, 1996, 1998 – Australian Coaching Council Individual Coach Award Finalist * 1996 – Australian Coaching Council Eunice Gill Award * 1998 – Australian Paralympic Coach of the Year * Confederation of Australian Sport Dawn Fraser Award * 1994 to 1996 – Chairman of the Athletics Committee of the International Sports Organisation for the Disabled * 2000 –

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

* 2002 – Medal of the

* 2003 – Rotary Clubs of Canberra and Woden Paul Harris Fellowship *2015 - ACT Sport Hall of Fame inductee

References

External links

Chris Nunn interviewed by Mick Fogarty in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nunn, Chris Australian athletics coaches Paralympic coaches for Australia Coaches at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Coaches at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Coaches at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Coaches at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Paralympic athletics (track and field) coaches Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Australian Institute of Sport coaches 1958 births Living people Australian male hurdlers People from Maffra Sportsmen from Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian sportsmen