John Coates has conceded the Australian Olympic Committee's (AOC) brand has been damaged by a bitter presidency campaign in which he emerged victorious.

Coates was re-elected president at the AOC's annual general meeting in Sydney on Saturday morning, seeing off the challenge of hockey gold medallist Danni Roche by winning the vote count 58-35.

Not just business as usual Nothing will really ever be the same again for the Australian Olympic Committee. John Coates won this challenge to his leadership but look at those votes — 58-35. A third of the voters in the room wanted him out and that underlines the rift that has emerged in this campaign between two camps, the rift that has gone through the sport and the athletes themselves. He now says it is business as usual but he will need to heal that rift when he goes into his next and, as he has said, final term. What was not known was how these votes were laid out. That will emerge, no doubt, in the next coming days. Danni Roche denied it, but it was always said and assumed that the smaller sports — the ones who really owed Mr Coates the most in terms of pushing their agenda, the ones that really only exist every four years financially with the Olympics — would be the ones who would be the most loyal to Mr Coates. There is no doubt he has the confidence of a majority of sports, but there is also no doubt that bad blood has emerged over the past six weeks. There will need to be questions asked about how they have done business. Mr Coates has signalled he will need to change the way he makes decisions. - National sport correspondent Mary Gearin

It was the first time the sports administrator had faced a challenge to his position in 27 years.

There was loud applause as the result was announced and Mr Coates briefly thanked members for their support.

"Thank you very much for the confidence you've shown in me," he said.

The 66-year-old Coates later addressed the media, conceding the campaign had tarnished the organisation's public image.

"The brand has been damaged but I think that's easily repairable as we focus on these teams that are going away. That's what our executive should be focused on," he said.

"We've got a very good executive, no complaints there, and I'm hoping that the Olympic membership, having experienced this, will come together and that will be the good coming out of it."

Roche warned Coates there was a mood for change within Australia's Olympic family.

"Although the AOC's members didn't vote for a change in president, the past six weeks marks a pivotal moment in Australian sport," she said.

"We have started a much-needed conversation about the future direction of Australian sport and the responsibility the Australian Olympic Committee has in supporting its member sports and athletes."

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Roche said the record number of candidates for positions on the AOC board proved "sports feel empowered to have their voice heard".

"There is a desire for the AOC to place a greater focus on providing for their sports and athletes, and to have a more collaborative relationship with the national federations and the Australian Sports Commission," she said.

"Their national federations have a stronger voice than they have had in decades."

Coates addressed the meeting for 30 minutes prior to the vote but did not refer to the challenge from Roche, who gained traction campaigning to lower the AOC's running costs and divert more funds to athletes.

Coates' preferred picks for the two AOC vice-president roles also won their votes, with Ian Chesterman and Helen Brownlee to keep their roles after being challenged by Roche-backed Andrew Plympton.

And much of Coates' ticket was elected to the AOC executive board.

Campaign included claims of widespread bullying

Coates will retain his International Olympic Committee vice-presidency as a result of winning the vote, which followed a bitter election campaign including claims of widspread bullying within the AOC.

Coates' right-hand man Mike Tancred stepped down from his role as AOC media director last month pending an independent committee investigation of allegations of bullying made by former AOC chief executive Fiona de Jong.

De Jong, who left the AOC in December, also outlined a dozen cases of alleged workplace bullying since 2004 in the AOC.

Danni Roche's campaign for change in the AOC was not enough to secure her the presidency. ( AAP: Wendell Teodoro )

The overall tenor of the campaign centred around the sporting administrative experience of Coates, versus the argument that after 27 years it was time for a change.

Roche raised Coates' substantial salary as president, saying she wanted the payment — reportedly $715,000 a year — drastically reduced as part of a 30 per cent savings proposal so more money could be redirected into funding for athletes in the build-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Coates and the AOC executive have agreed to independent reviews into the AOC's workplace practices following the bullying claims.

The deputy chair of the AOC's Athletes Commission, rower Kim Brennan, said she welcomed Mr Coates' re-election but now expected major changes within the organisation, including a clear succession plan.

"I think in a lot of ways the work starts now. Obviously there's a lot of work to do with the bullying allegations that have gone on, we'd like to see a strong executive board, we'd like to see a smooth transition out of John's presidency," she said.

"As hard as the campaign was for a lot of people involved, Danni has done a huge service for sport by standing up and putting a light onto so many of these issues."

Tensions between AOC and ASC exposed

Sorry, this video has expired Sports bodies need to "pull their heads in" and support Coates says Flemming

The other element to the campaign was the underlying tensions between two of Australia's top sporting bodies, the AOC and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC).

A public argument between Coates and ASC chair John Wylie at this year's Nitro Athletics meet in Melbourne exposed the deterioration in relations.

Coates accused Wylie of working against him, trying to unseat him from his long-held position.

During the AOC election campaign, Roche — who is an ASC commissioner — denied she was a puppet candidate and said her decision to run was "100 per cent" her choice.

Coates now faces the task of uniting a split Olympic movement as he extends his presidency to three decades.

He has said he will step down after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

ABC/AAP