Glasgow athletes lacked leaders: report

Eric Hollingsworth was sent home from Glasgow after his feud with Sally Pearson. Source: News Limited

A REPORT into Athletics Australia's Commonwealth Games debacle which resulted in its head coach being sent home has found a lack of leadership throughout the organisation contributed to the Glasgow mess.

The Herald Sun has obtained a copy of the 39-page report which was conducted by Sydney 2000 Olympic team coach Chris Wardlaw and three AA board members.

It is critical of the way the team performed and the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of head coach Eric Hollingsworth after his public falling out with Olympic hurdles champion Sally Pearson.

A lack of transparency in team coaching appointments and funding allocation was a major problem with communication between the hierarchy and athletes not good enough.

"The Panel found that leadership failures, at a range of organisational levels, contributed to the disappointing outcomes and incidents of the Glasgow campaign," the report says.

"This was not just a failure during the Games period but one for which the foundations had been laid in the years preceding the Games.

"There was limited leadership and genuine engagement from some AA senior staff with the athletes and coaches at Glasgow.

"Communication was generally impersonal and largely one way."

The panel found that Hollingsworth's removal from Glasgow "was appropriate" and that the scandal had hurt the sport.

"It was generally acknowledged that some difficult relationships had developed over time between AA's ex Head Coach and a number of athletes and coaches.

"Historically the incident at the games was not a one-off.

"Debate was virulent in the public domain – leading to potential brand damage in Australia and negative impacts on stakeholders.

"However impact was marginal within team with nearly all feedback indicating it had little or no impact on team or individual performance; indeed there was a sense of relief among some athletes. 'The team just got on with the job at hand'."

It was also critical of high performance director Simon Nathan's handling of the fining of Pearson and 800m national record holder Alex Rowe for missing the team camp because they were competing in critical Games lead-up events.

"The Panel found that the handling of the issue did not pass the test of common sense."

They also found that the sport's Winning Edge mentality to funding and performance - which made headlines after support for 100m record holder Melissa Breen was dropped - needed refining with more focus on the building of relationships with athletes.

Hollingsworth hasn't been the only head to roll since Glasgow with AA chief executive Dallas O'Brien resigning in October. The former head of Yachting Australia, Phil Jones, was last week appointed the interim AA CEO.

Another report into the state of athletics, commissioned by the Australian Sports Commission and headed by former Australian cricket coach John Buchanan, is expected to be complete in the coming weeks.

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