This was the John Coates who was dragged before that inquiry, despite the quasi-diplomatic immunity claimed by International Olympic Committee grandees during their luxurious jaunts across the planet.
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The same man whose organisation either cannot, or will not, justify the benefits its generous funding provides the broader community, beyond spurious notions such as the Olympic ''feelgood factor'', ''international prestige'' and the chest-beating contests with other nations similarly obsessed with the medals table.
The man whose organisation eventually delivered a 229-page submission to that inquiry that was little more than a longwinded and costly wish list on behalf of elite performers. The AOC's untested, perhaps even self-deluded, claims about its impact on grassroots sports were echoed in London by the Australian team's deputy chef de mission Kitty Chiller. In defending Australia's performance, Chiller said: ''There's thousands of kids running around the backyard because of Cathy Freeman. Thousands on a bike because of Cadel Evans.''
Evans's Tour de France victory, almost certainly, has accelerated already strong growth in cycling. Yet, what little research has been done - none of it by the AOC - suggests the Olympics have no significant impact on participation rates, beyond short-lived spikes in attendance at programs such as Little Athletics. Indeed, one study by the Australian centre for Olympic studies at the University of Technology, Sydney, showed that participation by people aged 15-plus in 14 out of 21 Olympic sports decreased after the Sydney Olympics.
