Helen Margaret Brownlee (born 18 May 1945) is an Australian executive with the

Australian Olympic Committee The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is the National Olympic Committee responsible for developing, promoting, and protecting the Olympic Movement in Australia. The AOC has the exclusive responsibility for the representation of Australia at ...

(AOC). In 2013, she was the first woman to be elected as one of the vice presidents of the AOC executive board. The daughter of a founding member of Australian Canoeing, Brownlee began canoeing at a young age. She specialised in

canoe slalom Canoe slalom (previously known as whitewater slalom) is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a Spraydeck, decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on Whitewater, river rapids in the fastest time pos ...

and served as a judge at various

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

. In 1976, Brownlee became the first woman elected to the

International Canoe Federation The International Canoe Federation (ICF) is the umbrella organization of all national canoe organizations worldwide. It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and administers all aspects of canoe sport worldwide. 157 countries are affiliated ...

(ICF) Slalom and Wildwater Committee and was eventually promoted to the ICF Board of Management. In 1985, Brownlee was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

for her contributions to the sport of canoeing and received the Australian Sports Medal in 2000. In 2015, she was honoured with the

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Tradit ...

for her contribution to the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

and was inducted into

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

. In 2018, she was made a

Member 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 "significant service to sports administration, to women as an advocate for greater participation in sport, and to the Olympic movement".

Career

Brownlee was born to father Os Brownlee, a founding member of Australian Canoeing. With his paddling experience, he helped raise and train her in competitive canoeing. With her father's help, Brownlee trained on the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, Ria, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average Altitude, height, and depth, depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour ...

in the K1 and K2 classes but shortly thereafter switched to canoe slalom. Brownlee won Australia’s first international slalom medal; however, because Australian Canoeing focused mostly on

sprint canoeing Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race in specially designed sprint canoes or sprint kayaks on calm water over a short distance. Prior to November 2008, canoe sprint was known as flatwater racing. The term is still in use today ...

, she was unable to compete in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

. As a result, Brownlee served as a judge for both the 1972 and 1988 Summer Olympic Games and later was a member of the competition jury at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. In 1976, Brownlee became the first woman elected to the

(ICF) Slalom and Wildwater Committee and was eventually promoted to the ICF Board of Management. In 1985, Brownlee was awarded the

Order of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

for her canoeing career and contributions. In 1992, Brownlee created the Pierre de Coubertin Awards to recognise secondary school students who are active participants in sport and demonstrate fair play and sportsmanship. After the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

saw a rise in female slalom canoeists, Brownlee was awarded the 2002 Trophy for Oceania by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(IOC) for encouraging females to participate in Olympic canoeing. Starting from the 1972 Olympics, Brownlee served as an official or jury member for the sport of canoeing until 2010. In 2010, Brownlee was inducted into the International Whitewater Hall of Fame. In 2013, following referendums for gender equality, Brownlee became the first woman to be elected as one of the vice presidents on the Australian Olympic Committee. While serving as vice-president, Brownlee was inducted as a General Member of the

in 2015. Since 2015, she has served as Chair of the

Oceania National Olympic Committees The Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) is an international organization that congregates the 17 National Olympic Committee, National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of Oceania. It often assembles with other continental NOCs in the form of the ...

Women and Sport Commission which encourages female participation in sports as well as president of the Commonwealth Canoe Federation and Oceania Canoe Association. On 5 May 2015, Brownlee was awarded the

for her contributions to bringing international recognition to the sport of canoeing. In 2017, both Brownlee and her father were inducted into the Paddle Australia Hall of Fame. She was later re-elected to her vice presidency position with the AOC alongside Ian Chesterman that same year. In 2018, Brownlee was awarded 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 ...

and was appointed to the International Olympic Committee Education Commission.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brownlee, Helen 1945 births Living people Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sportswomen from New South Wales Australian female canoeists Recipients of the Olympic Order Australian International Olympic Committee members Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Sydney 20th-century Australian sportswomen