The Times - UK (2020-10-14)

62 2GM Wednesday October 14 2020 | the times

Sport

The British Gymnastics chief executive

will retire in December, with the belea-

guered head of the governing body

admitting she had “fallen short” in

addressing allegations of abuse.

Jane Allen, who has led the organisa-

tion for a decade, called the past few

months an “extremely difficult” and

“devastating” period, but said she had

originally decided in March to retire

after the Tokyo Olympics this summer

and that nobody else had played a hand

in the decision.

Gymnastics is at present subject to an

independent inquiry, The Whyte

The former British Cycling and Team

Sky doctor accused of buying banned

substances to dope a rider has admitted

to accepting a free bike, worth several

thousand pounds, at the expense of the

governing body.

Richard Freeman denies the central

charge of his fitness-to-practise medi-

cal tribunal, instead claiming that he

lied and tried to cover up his purchase

of 30 Testogel sachets because he had

been bullied into placing the order by

Shane Sutton, the former coach and

British Cycling technical director.

Sutton denies the claim.

In his statements, Freeman said a

reason why he and Sutton fell out was

because he refused to authorise pay-

ment of a £6,000 dental bill when he

was the head of the medical depart-

ment for the organisation.

Under cross-examination yesterday,

The withdrawal of Kruijswijk means

that three of the favourites to win the

general classification are no longer in

the race, after Yates’s positive test at the

weekend and Geraint Thomas’s crash

last week that left the Ineos Grenadiers

rider with a fractured pelvis. The tenth

stage yesterday, over 110 miles from

Lanciano to Tortoreto, was won by

Peter Sagan, with João Almeida finish-

ing third to retain the overall lead.

Organisers said the race would con-

tinue as planned but the field has been

diminished. Michael Matthews, of

Team Sunweb, was the rider who tested

positive along with Kruijswijk.

Mauro Vegni, the race director,

remained confident that there was a

limited risk to the remaining competi-

tors. “Like in everyday life, the more

you test, the more you find positive

cases,” he said. “Now the number of

cases seems low to me.”

Two teams pull out of Giro

as more Covid cases emerge

Giro d’Italia

John Westerby

Freeman ‘regrettably’ took bike gift

Freeman conceded that he too had

benefited from a freebie culture that ex-

isted at British Cycling despite a drain

on National Lottery funding from UK

Sport. Freeman was directed by Simon

Jackson, QC, acting for the General

Medical Council, towards an email

exchange with Sutton, in which he said

to the Australian: “The bike arrived

today — how much do I owe you?”

Asked by Mr Jackson if the bike was

a gift, Freeman replied that it was “com-

plicated”. “Coaches and staff and

friends of friends were often given bikes

that were reported as sponsors’ bikes,”

Freeman said. “They were marked

down as used but were brand new. I was

offered one by Shane. Other staff were

getting bikes at a 20 per cent discount.

I thought I’d have to pay for it.

“Shane subsequently said, ‘You don’t

have to pay for it.’ I went to the financial

controller and I was told, ‘Shane’s

cleared it off the budget.’ Shane said,

‘You’ve been given it, it’s a gift.’ Subse-

quently he said, ‘Remember that bike,

you didn’t pay for that bike.’ ” Jackson

then asked if he had returned it.

“Regrettably I didn’t,” Freeman said. “I

gave it as a gift to my wife.” Later

Freeman was asked about medical

protocols he created for Team Sky in

late 2010. These included the introduc-

tion of intravenous recovery, which was

frowned upon in cycling and banned by

the UCI in May 2011.

Freeman explained how a change in

culture at Team Sky had followed a dis-

appointing first season in professional

road racing; one that was marred for the

new British outfit by the death, from

sepsis, of the massage therapist Txema

González during La Vuelta in Septem-

ber 2010. Freeman said the riders had

called for the recruitment of doctors

with a cycling background (Freeman

had come from football in 2009). That

recruitment drive included Geert Lein-

ders, who would later receive a life ban

for multiple doping violations before

working with Team Sky.

The hearing continues today.

Cycling

Matt Lawton

Chief Sports Correspondent

Two leading teams withdrew from the

Giro d’Italia yesterday after the latest

batch of positive coronavirus tests.

Two riders and six staff members had

tested positive on the rest day on

Monday, including four staff from the

Mitchelton-Scott team, whose British

team leader, Simon Yates, had already

withdrawn after testing positive.

Mitchelton-Scott announced they

would not continue in the race and they

were followed by the withdrawal of all

eight riders from Jumbo-Visma, for

whom Steven Kruijswijk, the Dutch

climber, had tested positive.

Addy Engels, the Jumbo-Visma

sports director, said. “We’ve decided to

take the most responsible decision as

we look to the health of our riders and

staff.”

Chief quits, admitting: I fell short

Review, into numerous allegations of a

“culture of fear” and physical and emo-

tional abuse over decades, allegedly

perpetrated by coaches.

The news was greeted with fury by

the former Olympic gymnast, Jennifer

Pinches, who said: “[My] blood is boil-

ing. Jane Allen should have been fired in

disgrace or stepped down out of shame.”

A number of high-profile gymnasts,

including the former Olympian Amy

Tinkler, have called for change at

the top of the sport to reflect the

disappointment they feel at the way

complaints of abuse have been

handled. The Rio bronze medallist

wrote an open letter in September

expressing frustration about the way

her complaints had been handled,

asking Allen: “Are you proud of how I’m

being treated?”

Allen told the BBC that while it was

“quite upsetting” to leave the sport in its

present state, she felt it was “appropri-

ate” to continue with her planned

retirement. “I think that it will be a good

opportunity for a new CEO to come in

and help with the outcomes of the

Whyte Review and move the sport

forward,” she said.

Allen also apologised to “any athlete

who feels that at any time that any of

our actions have hurt them in any way”.

She added: “I feel devastated by what

[the athletes] have gone through.

They’ve been very brave to stand up

and speak out... there are things that as

CEO, I take full responsibility for.”

She said the organisation needed to

look at the “barriers” that prevented

athletes from coming forward to

disclose allegations of abuse.

Allen said she had personally apolo-

gised to Tinkler after the gymnast post-

ed emails on her social media showing

a national coach making comments

about her weight and comparing her to

a “fat dwarf”. “I was absolutely floored

by some of the allegations that came

through,” she said of Tinkler’s revela-

tions. She added that British Gymnas-

tics “could have done more” for the

former Olympian.

Mike Darcey, the chair of British

Gymnastics, said: “The whole board

would like to thank Jane for her

dedicated service to the sport. We had

originally agreed with Jane that she

would retire following the Tokyo

Olympic Games in the summer of 2020,

but that was extended to help British

Gymnastics trough the initial impact of

coronavirus and then the subsequent

worrying news about abuse claims.”

Allen has spent a

decade heading

British Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Rebecca Myers

A

ndy Murray had

hoped after two

tame grand-slam

losses that he could

build some momentum

instead on the indoor

hard courts of Europe,

but he will have to wait

another week after

suffering a first-round

exit last night at the

bett1HULKS Indoors in

Cologne (Stuart Fraser

writes).

The three-times major

champion was far too

passive in a 6-4, 6-4

defeat by his old foe

Fernando Verdasco, the

world No 62 from Spain

who was once ranked as

high as No 7. He found it

difficult to hit through

the slower-than-

expected surface and did

not hit a single ace

during his one hour and

40 minutes on the court.

There is no need,

though, for Murray to

press the panic button at

this point, as this

ongoing return from two

hip surgeries requires

much patience. The 33-

year-old will be

disappointed to have

now lost eight

consecutive sets — he

was knocked out in the

second round of the US

Open and the first round

of the French Open —

but he has several days

to spend on the practice

court in Cologne before

another tournament is

held in the same

location from Monday.

“I need to practise,

play matches and

physically get better,”

Murray said.

“I need to get back to

playing my game on the

court. I have gone away

from that a little bit and

am making more

mistakes than usual.”

Requiring most work

is his serve. Murray was

broken four times by

Verdasco throughout

the match and landed

only 41 per cent of his

first serves in. It put him

on the back foot against

an opponent who likes

to swing big with his

forehand at any

opportunity.

Kyle Edmund also

followed Murray out of

the draw at the first

hurdle. The British

No 2’s disappointing run

of form since the restart

of the tour continued

with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1)

defeat by Lloyd Harris, a

South African qualifier

ranked No 92.

This should have been

a comfortable opener for

Edmund, the world

No 47, but he made far

too many errors and

converted only two of 11

break points against an

inspired opponent who

benefited from having

played two matches in

qualifying.

Edmund, 25, has won

only one of the six

matches he has played

since his return to

action in August.

Murray lacks spark

in first-round defeat

Murray struggled on the

slower surface as he

lost to his old rival

Verdasco. Inset, a dejected

Edmund looks on

CHRISTOF KOEPSEL/GETTY IMAGES