Aussie unhappy campers

The Forums Beijing 2008 Coverage
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Unhappy campers left in the lurchJacquelin Magnay and Jessica Halloran in Hong Kong | August 12, 2008

A BUNGLE by Athletics Australia that led to confusion among athletes over whether they would have to pay to go to the opening ceremony in Beijing on Friday night has left many of them feeling misled by their governing body.

Yesterday it emerged that 400 metres runner Sean Wroe, who was given special permission to march in the ceremony, did not have to pay his own way from the team camp in Hong Kong, as athletes claim they had been led to believe by officials.

Even Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates was confused yesterday, initially saying that Wroe had paid for the privilege of attending the ceremony.

When asked whether that meant athletes had to pay for the honour of attending the Olympic Games, Coates was interrupted by an AOC spokesman who said he had clarified the situation and confirmed that Wroe’s fare had been paid for him. Apparently, because Wroe stayed in the athletes village, bringing forward his arrival into Beijing and not returning to the AA team camp in Hong Kong, the airfare was picked up by the AOC.

Heptathlete Kylie Wheeler said she was hoping to march but was told by AA that she wasn’t allowed to go.

After it emerged that Wroe had been allowed to break camp early to attend the ceremony, she said she didn’t agree with the philosophy of having to pay to attend the ceremony.

But when it then emerged that Wroe didn’t pay, she said: “I wasn’t aware of that, I thought we couldn’t go, simple as that … I went with what I was told.”

With a huge number of first-time athletes in the AA team, many of whom were keen to enjoy the experience of marching into the stadium, the debacle about getting AA permission for the prestigious occasion has created tension.

Sally McLellan wanted to go, and Tamsyn Lewis was outspoken about having to pay.

Wheeler said everyone had an opinion on the issue “and the way the problem panned out caused a lot of discussion, but not divisiveness”.

Many feel misled by the governing body after they let Wroe go. Some have also slammed their university accommodation with its dormitories and communal showers and can’t wait to leave for the Beijing Olympic village.

The athletes thought on the eve of the Olympics they would have more comfortable lodgings. One athlete described it as more like a school camp than an Olympic training camp.

“We are the Olympic Games team - we are not a school athletics team,” one athlete said.

Not all of Australia’s 41 athletes are staying at Hong Kong University. Some, including medal favourites, had always planned to stay elsewhere.

The distance runners, including star Craig Mottram, are staying at a hotel near Happy Valley racecourse.

The men’s pole vaulters, including gold medal favourite Steve Hooker, booked a unit to ensure their Olympic preparations would be comfortable.

Commonwealth Games champion John Steffensen was also quick to sort out hotel accommodation over the university dormitory, which has communal showers.

Many have been unhappy with the food, saying the university cafeteria was not providing adequate meals and they had been eating at local shopping centres.

“Where we are staying here is pretty crap,” an athlete said. “We are looking for our own food outside of the accommodation, walking around town trying to find decent food.”

The athletes have, however, been satisfied with the training facilities and the gymnasium at Hong Kong University.

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Nothing new, looking after the athletes best interests have really been AA first priority.

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Team harmony takes a batteringJacquelin Magnay | August 13, 2008

AUSTRALIA’S track-and-field athletes have finally dribbled into Beijing. Their jobs having finished in Hong Kong - which apparently centred on lobbying prospective sponsors for extra money - they are according to the team officials young, fit, and ready for the experience of a lifetime. The sport’s future funding depends on this experience. As medals, even without Nathan Deakes and Jana Rawlinson, equal future money.

But overshadowing critical team preparations are a series of management decisions that have left the team reeling. We will go into the opening ceremony debacle later, but another divisive undercurrent threatens to derail the Olympics before anyone has hit the Bird’s Nest track.

It is the thorny issue of accredited coaches.

Months ago, about the time that athletes were told they couldn’t march in the opening ceremony, the athletes were also told that their personal coaches could not go to Beijing.

Hence the team camp in Hong Kong. The idea was that all coaches would be in the Chinese territory to oversee the final stages of Games training, wave goodbye at the airport and head off home.

Except that is not what happened. Somehow, a lot of the distance coaches got accredited. Even a distance running coach who has no personal athletes at the Games was handed one of the rare and sought-after accreditations. Other athletes, particularly sprinters and field athletes, were left without having the benefit of their personal coach having the critical cardboard tag that allows them free movement around the training track, a seat in the Bird’s Nest during competitions, accommodation in the Olympic village and free transport.

Accreditations are always a difficult issue to resolve because there are never enough to go around the whole team. Athletics Australia submitted a wish list to the Australian Olympic Committee and ranked them from most important to least important. In addition to the five management spots, there are another eight “P” coach accreditations. So the team is already split into the haves and the have-nots.

Then there was the Hong Kong base that was so spartan my colleague Jessica Halloran said some of the athletes resorted to taking sleeping tablets to get a good night’s rest on the gym mat-like mattresses. It was supposed to be a bonding camp, but the communal facilities, physiotherapy in the kitchen and a lack of linen

or towels added new meaning

to toughening up.

Yet the 30 rookies can get pumped up just thinking about being denied the chance to attend the opening ceremony, perhaps what might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

If that injustice isn’t sufficient, maybe the fact that one team member, Sean Wroe, was given permission to attend the ceremony while everyone else was never presented with such an option.

Bizarrely, it was claimed Wroe had paid his own way.

That was false - the Australian Olympic Committee pays for the travel of all the athletes to Beijing. Joel Milburn spoke out about it and was reprimanded by Athletics Australia officials. So much for creating team harmony.

Now we hear team members have to be multiskilled as public relations agents, encouraged to spruik up the sport to a wealthy gathering at a Hong Kong opening ceremony dinner so that Athletics Australia can fund extra team camps to build the morale that team officials so skilfully dissect.

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Accrediting coaches is one thing but marching in the opening ceremony is another- imagine actually paying for the priveledge of your athletes trashing themselves in the opening ceremony if they don’t have to!! In Seoul, they lined the athletes up starting at 4am and the stood or lined up or marched and then stood till mid-afternoon. Great for the legs!!

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I thought AA came out and said no one was going to march.

If I was at the Olympics I would of loved to march, but the team was based in Hong Kong which I thought caused more angst then not marching itself initially.

Tasmyn got reprimanded for her comments, which can’t be repeated on this site, by AA. They not directly I don’t think implied they were not happy about an athlete speaking there mind. Heaven forbid an athlete have a thought not only that is contrary to AA or even an indepedent thought of there own.

Just get rid of the test events at the Olympic and start the real ones.

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Fair enough, but Charlie, isn’t the Olympic experience about the “whole” experience, ie, marching in with your country mates and taking on all that the olympics has to offer. Or, at the very least, having the option to make that decision yourself?

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This was mentioned as a warning to those who matter back in Feb from someone who has been in asia for a number of years, “yes we have all those details sorted out we have done our research”.

I guess no one stayed over night during that research.

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You’re not there for your own purposes at the nation’s expense. you’re sent to do your best. The Olympics have discos too. Are you there to experience that too?

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That’s the sort of issue that counts. Preparation for performance.

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Well said.

Rupert
CharlieFrancis.com

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Fair enough, (and I certainly don’t disagree with that), however, you can go to discos anytime, and you’d certainly hope that mature adult athletes selected for an Olympics would refrain from such ‘play’ until they have finished competing. (Never guarenteed though 'm sure!)

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Sorry to be a HARD-ASS but some of the athlete comments coming out of the camp are contradictory. “We are Olympic athletes” on the one hand and “We want to go to the parade on the other”
When you break camp, someone pays twice- once at the camp and once at the village.

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No worries mate. I appreciate the honest response.

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So Charlie they are saying I want the cake and I want eat as well.

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[It is the thorny issue of accredited coaches.

Months ago, about the time that athletes were told they couldn’t march in the opening ceremony, the athletes were also told that their personal coaches could not go to Beijing.

Hence the team camp in Hong Kong. The idea was that all coaches would be in the Chinese territory to oversee the final stages of Games training, wave goodbye at the airport and head off home.

Except that is not what happened. Somehow, a lot of the distance coaches got accredited. Even a distance running coach who has no personal athletes at the Games was handed one of the rare and sought-after accreditations. Other athletes, particularly sprinters and field athletes, were left without having the benefit of their personal coach having the critical cardboard tag that allows them free movement around the training track, a seat in the Bird’s Nest during competitions, accommodation in the Olympic village and free transport.

Accreditations are always a difficult issue to resolve because there are never enough to go around the whole team. Athletics Australia submitted a wish list to the Australian Olympic Committee and ranked them from most important to least important. In addition to the five management spots, there are another eight “P” coach accreditations. So the team is already split into the haves and the have-nots.]

Unfortunatley that is just AA playing favourites and looking after thier mates.

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This confirms the comments coming from the largely disregarded sprinters and their coaches that the distance runners have an open door into AA and are given the red carpet treatment. Then again, to their credit, the plodders keep producing A-qualifiers - even if they come at the tailend of the field in the European races.

This goes to a comment I made quite a while ago that the sprint event Group has been poorly represented at/to AA HQ. Mind you, some of the sprint groups have brought it upon themselves.

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Come on now! They need some donkey runs to fill the schedule while the sprinters rest up between rounds!!

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Needed a 6.60mt to enter village.

Quote/ courier mail
Thompson last night started the task of washing and packing her clothes to depart tomorrow for her third Olympic Games after managing a jump of 6.48m at a solo competition at Brisbane’s State Athletics Facility.

It was 12cm short of the village-entry distance set for her by Athletics Australia high-performance manager Max Binnington, but she is confident the jump, her best since ankle and back injuries disrupted her bid in June, will ease Binnington’s concerns.

"The impression I get is that he is giving (coach) Gary Bourne and I a fair bit of leeway to make the decision in view of what I’ve done (internationally),’’ said Thompson, who also produced two other jumps of more than 6.40m.

No leeway given to the mens 100mt relay team, and will they get all thier accreditations when they arrive at the village.

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What? The Aussie authorities have athletes in the Games that they won’t let into the Olympic Village? Whaaaat? I must be reading this wrong.

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The Aussie athletes are meant to meet pre-departure results prior to the confirmation of selection in the team.

Therefore if an athlete didn’t meet it, they wouldn’t compete the OG.