Julius Patching

Image:Julius Patching and Jake Warcaba.JPG|thumb|right|300px|Patching hands over the Olympic flame to Jake Warcaba at the Australian War Memorial.
Julius Lockington "Judy" Patching, AO, OBE was an Australian Olympic sports administrator, and businessman.

Early years

Patching started his involvement in sport as a track and field athlete in 1932 with the Geelong Guild Athletic Club and Athletics Victoria. In 1933, he played a year of Australian Rules Football for Rosebud in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League. He was a keen hurdler and pentathlete, making the finals in both 110 and 440 yards hurdles in the 1946 Victorian championships.
Patching joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1934 and served for 13 years, including World War II. He knew some of the sailors killed in the loss of HMAS Sydney.

Sport

Patching's Australian Olympic achievements include:

Chief starter and member of the Technical Committee at both the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, and the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth
Athletics Section Manager at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome
Assistant General Manager at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo
Chef de Mission at both the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City and 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich
Deputy Mayor of the Olympic village at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and
'runner' in the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay, in Canberra, 24 April 2008

Patching was also:

Delegate to the International Amateur Athletic Federation from 1960 to 1970
Secretary General of the Australian Olympic Committee from 1973 to 1985
Superintendent of recreation for the City of Melbourne from 1966 to 1983
Past President and Secretary General of the Victorian Olympic Council, and
Founding Secretary General of the Association of Oceania National Olympic Committees.

Patching contributed to the Victorian Olympic Council as:

1971–1973 Honorary Secretary
1974 Executive Member
1975–1985 Chairman
1986–1993 President

The VOC's "Julius Lockington Patching Sports Official of the Year Award" was inaugurated in 2008.

Honours and awards

Patching was honoured with Life Membership of:

the Geelong Guild Athletic Club
the Victorian Amateur Athletic Association, now Athletics Victoria
the Victorian Olympic Council
the Australian Olympic Committee
the Archery Society of Victoria, and
Fencing Australia.

Patching was awarded:

the Award of Merit from the Australian Athletic Union, now Athletics Australia
the Award of Merit from the Association of National Olympic Committees
the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Order
the Australian Sports Medal
the first Oceania National Olympic committees Merit Award
Australia's recipient of the International Olympic Committee's Centenary of Olympic Games Award, and
Honorary Life Patron of the Olympians Club of Victoria, in 2003.

Patching's outstanding contribution to sport was also honoured with appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1970 and as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1985.

Peter Norman

Patching was Chef de Mission for Australia during the famous 1968 Olympics Black Power salute. He resisted calls by conservatives in the media to punish Peter Norman, who wore a human rights badge on the dais. He cautioned Norman about the situation, and used the words "They're screaming out for your blood, so consider yourself severely reprimanded. Now, you got any tickets for the hockey today?"

Social life

Patching was a long-time resident of Point Lonsdale, Victoria, where his parents had lived and Patching grew up.
One of Patching's last official engagements in Geelong was his attendance at the Geelong Guild Athletic Club's Centenary Dinner in July 2008. Patching spoke at the dinner and along with fellow club Life Member, Mrs Patricia Agg, cut the club's centenary birthday cake.