Top-tier Olympic Games sponsor Deloitte has put forward a 19-strong list of its own professionals who will be bidding for success at next year’s event in Paris, including four members based in Australia.
Australia has featured prominently among an inaugural global list of 19 elite athletes announced as members of ‘Team Deloitte’ – professionals of the Big Four firm who will be striving for gold at next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.
The local contingent includes Olympic gold medalist Alexander Purnell, fellow Olympic rower Caleb Antill, champion Paralympic canoeist Curt McGrath, and middle-distance runner Georgia Hansen.
“As we look toward Paris 2024, we’re thrilled to introduce Team Deloitte, an extraordinary group of dual-career Deloitte professionals and elite athletes who who represent 14 different countries and exemplify the unique qualities and levels of commitment required to succeed in both sport and business,” stated global CEO Joe Ucuzoglu, with the firm under his predecessor Punit Renjen last year signing a decade-long partnership deal with the IOC.
Closer to home, Deloitte has also been working as a partner of the Australian Olympians Association, supporting former athletes with their post-sporting career transitions through alumni networking events, while former Deloitte Australia and Asia Pacific chief Cindy Hook is busy overseeing the delivery of the 2032 Brisbane Games after her appointment as CEO. The firm has also lent its expertise in developing Paralympics Australia’s long-term strategy plan.
The local firm will also have a handful of colleagues to cheer on at the upcoming Paris Games. Alexander Purnell and Olympic rowing teammate Caleb Antill, who both reached the dais in Tokyo for a gold and a bronze, have worked respectively in Deloitte’s Sydney and Canberra offices as a financial advisory analyst and technology strategy and transformation consultant since 2021 – with both having also completed double degrees.
Paracanoeist Curt McGrath likewise reached the pinnacle at Tokyo, adding two gold medals to his earlier triumph at Rio after having lost both of his legs to an explosive device in 2012 while on deployment in Afghanistan. McGrath now works as a Deloitte Paralympian advisor for the Brisbane Games, while middle-distance runner and first-time Olympic hopeful Georgia Hansen is a private tax & advisory analyst in Deloitte’s Melbourne office.
All up, the firm counts thirty-seven former and current summer and winter Olympians among its global professionals, who have combined for ten golds and sixteen medals in total dating back to Atlanta, while the current Team Deloitte crop represent 13 other countries across 21 different sports. Among them is Deloitte Canada senior consultant Tiffany Leung, who is looking to qualify for the next edition’s debut breakdancing event in Paris.
“I always thought that breaking and Deloitte were two completely different worlds, and that I would have to choose one to excel and advance in,” Leung stated. “I almost considered giving up my Olympic ambitions, but now I can continue to advance my career while pursuing my dreams outside of work. Deloitte and breaking share a lot of synergies and the skills that I learned in the professional world are also transferrable to breaking.”
Sourced from Consultancy-com-au