Chris Nunn

Christopher John Nunn, OAM (born 18 December 1958) on 18 December 1958 and lived his first eight years in the nearby town of Heyfield. He attended Yankalilla Area School,

Athletics career

In 1981, he moved to Brisbane to be closer to his partner and athlete Glynis Nunn (née Saunders). He and Glynis competed at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. He competed in the men's decathlon but withdrew during the event due to injury. 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. 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 for services as a coach of athletes with a disability, particularly Australian Paralympic athletes. Whilst at the AIS, Nunn played a significant role in establishing, developing and gaining acceptance of high performance programs for athletes with a disability. Nunn returned to high performance sport in 2009 when he was appointed manager of high performance, Australian Paralympic Committee. 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 2002 – Medal of the Order of Australia 2015 - ACT Sport Hall of Fame inductee