John Ian Wing Parade, Newington, NSW 2127

Whether you are driving around or living in Newington, (Sydney Olympic Village) and you see streets named, Mohammed Ali, Michael Jordon and Jessie Owens, you know this area was once occupied by some of the greatest sportsmen and women of the world. And as you drive out of the Village towards the Olympic Complex along the John Ian Wing Parade, you go “Who in the xxxx is he?”

I would like to put your mind at ease and tell you more about John Ian Wing and why he was given recognition at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

My name is John Ian Wing and I was born in Melbourne in November 1939, and when I left collage I became a carpenter.

In November 1956, the Olympic Games came to Melbourne. It was a very tense time because of a number of conflicts being fought around the globe. The Olympics suffered its first boycott when a number of countries stayed away and there was tension in the Village and also during the water polo game, fighting broke out between the Russian and Hungarian players. The Olympic Movement was being torn apart and someone had to do something.

During all Olympic Opening Ceremonies, athletes of each country will enter the Stadium behind their National flag, but athletes never took part in the Closing Ceremony which I thought was very strange. To ease the tension amongst the athletes and to help restore the integrity of the Olympic Movement, I came up with this idea of having a Peace March during the closing ceremony. With just four days before the final day, I wrote a letter to the chairman of the Organising Committee Wilfrid Kent Hughes with my plan. The president of the IOC Avery Brundage agreed to my request.

On the final day, athletes from all nations joined together to form One Nation. As they entered the Stadium they waved to the crowed conveying a message of goodwill, peace and harmony. It was the first time athletes had been allowed to take part in the Closing Ceremony and also it was the very first International Peace March ever been staged in mankind.

In my letter I wrote: "war, politics and nationality will all be forgotten, what more could anybody want if the whole world could be made as One Nation."

For my contribution to the Melbourne Games and the Olympic Movement, the Australian Authorities named the main street as the John Ian Wing Parade.

(further information can be found on my website: www.johnwing.co.uk or
on Youtube: john ian wing. )

Regards
John Ian Wing
[email protected]