ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission for 2018 announced as Penny Briscoe
- Penny Briscoe appointed Chef de Mission for third consecutive Paralympic Games
- Senior leadership team also confirmed for 2018
- BPA will run two-strand senior leadership team led by Chef de Mission and Secretary General
Penny Briscoe OBE has been announced as the Chef de Mission for ParalympicsGB for the next Paralympic Winter Games, to be held in PyeongChang in 2018.
Following on from her leadership role at the helm of ParalympicsGB in Rio, where Briscoe led the ParalympicsGB team to its most successful Paralympic Games performance ever, Briscoe will now take charge of the preparation of the team for the winter Games.
The ParalympicsGB Senior Leadership Team for PyeongChang is also confirmed today, with Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of the BPA, to take the position of Secretary-General once again.
The division of responsibilities is one that has been utilised successfully at previous Games and splits the leadership into those with responsibility for the sport and those with responsibility for the BPA’s wider engagement and business.
Speaking today, Hollingsworth said:
“Choosing the Chef de Mission for Pyeongchang was a simple and pleasurable task and in Penny we have a world-leading Chef in charge. I am delighted she has accepted the role.
“We have developed a successful leadership model over the previous three Paralympic Games and will continue to do so for PyeongChang. By splitting the leadership under the overall direction of the President into the team side, led by the Chef de Mission, and the organisation side, which I will be responsible for, we know we can get the balance right. It allows the focus of the Chef de Mission to stay rightly with the team while allowing the Secretary-General team’s focus to be on all aspects of ParalympicsGB’s presence at the Games off the field of play, including partner support, stakeholder and international relations.
“Both the Board and myself have complete confidence in Penny and her team’s ability to deliver the best prepared team to Pyeongchang in March 2018.”
Briscoe said of her appointment:
“It’s a huge honour to be appointed as Chef de Mission for PyeongChang and I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead our winter team once again. It’s a very exciting time for winter para sport and I am looking forward to supporting athletes and staff from both snow and ice sports consolidate the fantastic performances delivered back in Sochi. We have an ambition to be best prepared for every winter and summer Games and I will be working hard alongside colleagues to ensure this happens.”
Briscoe will be well supported as Chef de Mission, with an experienced leadership team appointed to assist her. Hollingsworth will be supported by Deputy Secretary-Generals Anna Scott-Marshall, the BPA’s Director of Communications, and Karl Reynolds, the BPA’s Commercial Director. Both Scott-Marshall and Reynolds held the same position at Rio 2016.
The Deputy Chef de Mission team comprises:
Georgina Sharples – Deputy Chef de Mission (Performance)
Verity Naylor – Deputy Chef de Mission (Operations)
Tash Carpenter – Chief Press Officer
Phil Smith – Deputy Chef de Mission (Games Services)
Georgina Sharples, Senior Performance Manager at the BPA and a Deputy Chef de Mission at Rio 2016, joins the team once more for what will be her fourth Paralympics. Serving alongside her will be Verity Naylor, Operations Manager at the BPA, Phil Smith, Games Services Manager at the BPA. Tash Carpenter, Communications Manager at the BPA will once again take on the role of Chief Press Officer, a role she held in both Rio and Sochi. Naylor worked at the London 2012 Organising Committee and has experience of two Paralympic Games for the Paralympic team since then, while Carpenter and Smith both have experience of five Paralympic Games. All worked as part of the leadership team at Rio 2016 and will bring continuity to deliver the most effective planning and delivery of a Paralympic winter team.
The position of President of the team, previously held by Tim Reddish as Chairman of the BPA, will be confirmed after the election process for a new Chairman has been completed on 28 February.
Photo above from onEdition shows Penny Briscoe (centre) with Paracanoeist who competed for ParalympicsGB at Rio 2016
Report courtesy of Paralympics GB
