LONDON, June 15 — British track cyclist Jess Varnish could take legal action against the sport’s domestic body British Cycling after an independent review labelled the elite programme as engendering a ‘culture of fear’.
The 26-year-old — a European Team Sprint world champion in 2011 — told The Times she felt insulted at being labelled a ‘troublemaker’ and a ‘ringleader’ in the review which was published yesterday.
Varnish’s complaints in April 2016 about the sexist remarks and bullying by the programme’s Australian technical director Shane Sutton led to the Cycling Independent Review (CIR) being set up under the leadership of British Rowing chair Annamarie Phelps.
Phelps, though, had to defend the final version being seven pages shorter and with some damning criticisms removed compared to the draft report leaked to the Daily Mail in March this year.
Varnish, whom Sutton told to ‘get on with having a baby’ after she was cut from the team last year, said the characterisations of her in the report would not ring true with those who knew her.
“I am insulted,” she told The Times.
“In a way I’m glad they have used this language because it shows what the people are like in there (British Cycling).
“Anyone who knows me knows I am not a troublemaker or ringleader. No one has ever been removed from the programme the way I was.”
Phelps and the five member panel criticised British Cycling for lacking ‘good governance’ and regretted findings in a 2012 report had not been acted upon because of them prioritising winning medals at the London Olympics.
However, observations in the draft report that the board had been ‘inept’ and ‘sanitised’ an in-house enquiry into Varnish’s allegations were not present in the final account.
Their finding in the draft report that Varnish had been removed from the team as ‘an act of retribution’ for her criticisms of thw coaching regime had also been removed.
Phelps, though, denied the report was a whitewash and explained they had utilised a process known as ‘Maxwellisation’ which allows those named and shamed in the draft report the right to reply and to defend themselves. — AFP
