Chef de Mission for Rio 2016 Paralympic Games announced

Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) is pleased to announce that the newly appointed Chef de Mission for Rio 2016 Paralympic Games is Ben Lucas.

Ben is high respected in the Paralympic Sport community as both a Paralympian  and as a leader of change and excellence.  Lucas is currently the Chief Executive  of New Zealand Spinal Trust, a Board member of Parafed Canterbury, Trustee of the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation and recent Board Member of PNZ and as such, is an outstanding candidate for this role.  As an athlete Ben represented New Zealand at the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games.  He lead both Paralympic Games teams as New Zealand Team Captain.

Ben will be tasked with continuing to drive the New Zealand campaign to success at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. He will provide the leadership that creates and delivers a high performance environment for New Zealand athletes to succeed at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Mark Copeland (Paralympic New Zealand, Chairman) says, “The task of producing high performing athletes in Para-Sport is becoming increasingly difficult with Paralympics New Zealand charged to deliver 8 - 12 gold medals at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.  The Chef de Mission will play a vital role in supporting the team to achieve this goal. Ben will build on the great foundations put in place by previous Chef de Mission, Duane Kale, from the highly successful campaigns in Beijing and  London, and will create and lead a high performance team environment which is inspirational and provides the opportunity for all athletes to thrive and succeed.”

Duane Kale will lead a knowledge transfer programme with Ben Lucas as Chef de Mission.

Ben Lucas says, “I am very excited about taking on the challenge of leading the New Zealand Paralympic Team to Rio 2016.  It takes a huge support team and environment to create medal winning athletes, and I will use a collaborative leadership style to create a way for athletes to contribute to making something extraordinary happen.” He continues, “The performance of the New Zealand team in London was outstanding and our Paralympians inspired the nation. I look forward to working towards Rio 2016 and ensuring the strong legacy of Paralympic success continues”. 

Rio 2016 Paralympic Games take place from 7 – 18 September 2016.