In the lead-up to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Australia, as the host nation, made a significant investment in securing success at the Games. This included an additional $135 million allocated to high-performance sports, expanding the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), and providing crucial support to Australia’s athletes.
Australia was determined to prove its dominance in front of a home crowd in Sydney, with government officials frequently highlighting that investment in elite sports was a key part of shaping the nation’s identity. This drive was supported by the quest for international recognition, with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) stating, ‘success in international sports is seen as contributing to national identity and pride. We are arguably better known internationally by our success in sport than in any other field of human endeavour.’[1]
The drive for international sports dominance was not a recent development. In July 1995, the Canberra Times reported that from around 1989, national basketball coaches had been traveling across the country to identify potential athletes and bring them to the AIS for training. Similarly, Triathlon Australia had been scouting for talent, selecting 12 promising triathletes. The article also mentioned that Ju Ping Tian, the Head Coach of the AIS Women’s Gymnastics program, had openly searched the country for gymnasts she referred to as ‘diamonds’ – young athletes under 10 or 11 with the right build and attitude. Additionally, the national Talent Search, funded by the federal government’s Olympic Athlete Program, used a scientifically based identification system to assess children across the country for physical traits and attributes deemed promising for specific sports. Many of these athletes were chosen to train at various sporting institutes, including the AIS.
It is now known that the focus on winning medals and global success came with a high cost to athletes training in high performance programs.
These athletes were required to participate in grueling training programs and were often isolated from normal life and their families which fostered an environment where athlete welfare was secondary to winning. This environment and the ‘win at all costs’ mentality has been documented in recent years in the various reviews of elite sports in Australia.
One gymnast who spoke out in the wake of the Australian Human Rights Commission Review reported that her coach had said that the team’s Olympic [poor] performance was because they were overweight.
This mindset was reinforced by government funding models tied to performance. For example, the federal government’s Olympic Athlete Program leading up to Sydney 2000 was ‘explicitly performance-based, with funding focused entirely on performance indicators and outcomes.’[2] In more recent years, it has been reported that the government’s funding model in swimming remains performance-based, with athletes at risk of losing their funding without any right of appeal.
The mentality and the often-toxic culture allowed to fester in elite sports for many years has had wide-ranging and long-lasting fallout.
Many athletes, including gymnasts, swimmers and volleyball players have courageously shared their experiences within these sports, and high-performance programs. In the AHRC Review, gymnasts spoke of emotional, physical and psychological abuse. One gymnast recounted how her coach had told her that she was fat, at age 11 when she weighed only 22 kilograms. Gymnasts also reported a culture of fear, weight-shaming and excessive control exerted by coaches. Many gymnasts disclosed that their experiences have caused them long-term psychological harm.
These experiences were echoed by swimmers in the 2021 Swimming Australia Review which has not been released publicly.
It has been reported that swimmers who spoke to the investigators for the review recounted body shaming, public humiliations and punishments following skinfold tests and weigh-ins.
Swimmers also reported that these practices led to eating disorders, self-harm and other psychiatric symptoms and disorders. Similarly, volleyball players spoke of an environment of fear and control which included physical and psychological abuse, as well as body shaming and humiliation. Some volleyball players also reported suffering from psychological conditions as a result of their experiences.
The AHRC review similarly gathered accounts from both former gymnasts and those still involved in the sport in 2020. The review revealed that the toxic culture and ‘win at all costs’ mentality persisted after the 2000 Olympics and the conclusion of the Olympic Athlete Program. Likewise, accounts from volleyball players, covering the period from 1995 to 2003, show that these practices continued beyond 2000. It appears that new funding models, such as the ASC’s Winning Edge strategy introduced after Australia’s success in Sydney, helped perpetuate the culture and mentality that had developed in the lead-up to the 2000 Olympics. This is further supported by findings from the Swimming Australia Review, which examined the period from 2016 to 2021. These are just a few of the many reviews of Australian elite sports conducted in recent years.
One can’t help but wonder, how many more athletes in other sports have had similar experiences, encountered similar issues and have suffered long-lasting consequences.
Several National Sporting Organisations, such as Gymnastics Australia and Swimming Australia have implemented the recommendations arising from the reviews, including stronger safeguarding measures and independent reporting mechanisms. Additionally, independent bodies have been developed to assist with the implementation of and compliance with safeguarding policies. Many National Sporting Organisations have also shifted to a model which values athlete development over the long-term, including holistic development programs that combine elite training with life skills and measure success based on a combination of results athlete wellbeing and their career longevity.
Elite sports in Australia have come a long way in the past 10 years, but there is still work to be done. Athlete safety and wellbeing must remain a top priority for coaches, high-performance training centres, National Sporting Organisations, and the ASC. With Australia set to host the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, it will be completely unacceptable if, in the aftermath, our athletes come forward with stories of mistreatment similar to those highlighted in past elite sports reviews. With all major Australian sporting bodies committing to the Win Well 2032 Pledge, we at Donaldson Law are hopeful that this commitment to mental, emotional, cultural, and physical wellbeing will enable our athletes to thrive and to succeed.