The Isle of Man has appointed Leonie Cooil as its Chef de Mission for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, it has been announced.
She will be assisted by Trevor Taubman, who will be the team’s general manager.
Cooil had been the Isle of Man’s team leader at last year’s Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa.
Before that, she had been the swimming team manager at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games, which the Isle of Man hosted, and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
“I am excited and honoured to have been appointed Chef de Mission for the Isle of Man team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games being held on the Gold Coast,” said Cooil.
“The Isle of Man has so many talented athletes in a range of sports and I am looking forward to working with them, their coaches, team managers and our medical support staff over the next two years as we prepare for the 2018 Games.
“We will continue to represent the island on the international stage and show the rest of the Commonwealth that we are a force to be reckoned with.”
Taubman, a former shooter, had also been the team’s general manager at Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014.
“We are fortunate in having very talented, experienced Great Britain and world class athletes in many of our sports,” he said.
“I’m sure they will work hard to ensure our medal successes of Delhi and Glasgow and the Samoa Youth Games continue.”
The Isle of Man made its debut in the Games at Cardiff in 1958 and has competed at every edition of the event since.
They have won a total of 11 medals, including three gold.
The first gold medal was claimed at the 1966 Games by cyclist Peter Buckley, winner of the road race at Kingston in Jamaica.
Nigel Kelly won a gold medal in the skeet shooting event at Edinburgh in 1986.
The third gold medal was collected by another cyclist, Mark Cavendish, one of the biggest names in the sport, who won the scratch race at Melbourne in 2006.
The Isle of Man’s success in cycling continued at Glasgow 2014 where Peter Kennaugh won the silver medal in the points race.
Gold Coast 2018 is due to take place between April 4 and 15.
- By Duncan Mackay
- Republished with permission insidethegames.biz