Phil Coles AM was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1993 as a General Member for his contribution to administration in the sport of canoeing.

Coles was a member of the Executive Board of the Australian Olympic Committee from 1973, and was Secretary General between 1985 – 1993, then Director of International Relations from 1993 – 1999. He was a member of the Board of the Sydney Olympics 2000 Bid Limited and was Vice President and director of the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) from 1993 to 1999.

Coles was also a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1982 and was on numerous Commissions, including: Radio and Television in seperate stints between 1983 – 1987, 1993 – 1999 & 2001; he was on the Joint Mass Media Commission from 1983 – 1984; the Olympic Solidarity Commission from 1987 – 1998; Study and Evaluation for the Preparation of the Winter Olympic Games from 1987 – 1988; Sport for All from 1989 – 1995; New Sources of Financing from 1995 – 1997 then Marketing from 1998 – 1999; Working Group on the Olympic Programme and Olympic Programme Commission from 2002.

Coles is a foundation member of the Executive Board of the Oceania National Olympic Committees (1981) and was a board member of the Australian Sports Drug Agency from 1996 – 1998. He was also a member of the Australian Sports Commission between 1984 – 1987, then again from 1989 – 1991 and was chairman of the New South Wales Institute of Sport from 1995, as well as the honorary secretary for the NSW Olympic Council from 1973 to 1985.

Coles enjoyed a successful career in canoeing and was a member of the Australian Olympic Team at the 1960 Rome Olympics and was named team captain for the 1964 Tokyo Games before he competed again at the 1968 Games in Mexico City. He won 25 national canoe championships and was national surf lifesaving champion five times. He captained the first Australian surf lifeguard team to compete in California in 1965.

Honours & Achievements

1983: Made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his services to sport