The Russell School - Olympic Supporter

One Wednesday, in May 2010, the Russell School in Chorleywood, had a special visitor to their school. Her name was Rosemary Mula a former teacher. Her story was inspirational and provided the children with a wonderful opportunity to experience and discover the true meaning of the Olympic values.

When Rosemary visited the Russell School, they didn’t know what to expect, but welcomed her as a special visitor, flying the Australian Flag and playing the National Anthem of Australia. Rosemary Mula is Australian, and a resident of Sydney however she began life in Watford, Hertfordshire, emigrating with her family to Australia in the early fifties.

There as a young girl she was fortunate enough to attend the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne . As a young spectator her Olympic dreams were inspired by a chance meeting with a great Brazilian Olympian - Adhemar De Silva. Rosemary and her group of excited teenage fans where watching Adhemar warm up for his defence of his Olympic title. Adhemar walked over to the group of girls and chatted to them. He told them about the time and dedication it took to be an Olympic champion and a winner in life.That day Adhemar won his second Gold Medal! This brief conversation made a lasting impression on Rosemary.

Years later Rosemary and Adhemar’s paths crossed once again. They became friends and Adhemar was to stay with her in Sydney for the 2000 Olympic Games. By this time although Rosemary’s chances of being an Olympic athlete had faded she had become involved in the Olympics as a Volunteer.

Sadly Adhemar died in 2001 but his memory lives on. He was a member of the São Paulo Futebo Clube, and because of him, the team coat of arms has two gold stars above the emblem. Rosemary and her husband Wilf, in tribute to Adhemar decided to sponsor an Annual Scholarship award which brings an up and coming Brazilian Athlete to Australia for specialist coaching.

With the experience of the Sydney Olympics behind her Rosemary was keen to continue her involvement in the Olympic movement. A chance meeting in Sydney led to an opportunity to use her knowledge of Olympic protocol to help a young aspiring Nation to become part of the Olympic movement. Kiribati, a group of Islands in the Northern Pacific, had gained independence from Britain in 1979. After experiencing the Pan-Pacific and the Commonwealth Games the Islanders where keen to appear on the world stage in the Olympics. Rosemary Mula helped them to achieve that and in August 2004 her Olympic dream was realised when she took part in the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics. Her role as attaché to the team enabled her to enter the arena with the team proudly wearing the colours of Kiribati. The team was the smallest team ever to take part – with just three athletes! Despite the fact that the Islands cover an area of ocean almost as big as the United States.

Rosemary is still heavily involved with Kiribati. Kiribati is a beautiful Pacific Island nation but poor in natural resources and with a weak economy. The Olympic squad tracksuit Rosemary proudly wore was relatively expensive for the islanders – there are few sponsors available and the athletes rely on subsidies from the Government and the Olympic movement to get to the Games.

The pupils at The Russell have committed to raise funds to support the Kiribati team Olympic kit. More importantly, Rosemary described how when the Kiribati team arrived in Athens no one was there to support them. Most of the big teams where inundated with messages of support and encouragement. The Kiribati team had none! At The Russell we’re going to change that and our pupils are going to ‘adopt’ the Kiribati team. When they arrive in London in 2012 they will find messages and pictures and posters from the Russell School pupils to welcome them to our Olympics and encourage them to do their best. We will also be flying the Kiribati Flag above our school for the duration of the games.

In October at the Commonwealth Games Kiribati will field a much larger squad than Athens 2004. The impact of that first Olympic experience has energised and motivated the young sports men and women of Kiribati. Amongst the officials will be Rosemary. She will be taking to Delhi our messages of support and goodwill to the team. We will be following the process of the team during the games. Our main aim over the next twelve months is to forge links between ourselves and Kiribati – through the athletes who are preparing for the Olympics and through the schools on the island.
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