NAURAJ'S COACH CAUSES A FLAP

Stewart hands high jump gold medallist and compatriot Starc Australian flag to celebrate the victory

NAURAJ Singh Randhawa’s coach Alex Stewart, who was in Malaysia’s official Commonwealth Games attire, caused an uproar yesterday when he hugged Brandon Starc and handed the high jump gold medallist the Australian flag at the Carrara Stadium.

However, Chef-de-Mission Huang Ying How and Podium director Tim Newenham do not see it as an issue as Stewart is not Nauraj’s fulltime coach.

Lee Hup Wei also trains under the Australian but forks out his own money for the coach’s help. “We pay Stewart based on the sessions he has with Nauraj.”

The Australian also trains Starc and other Australian jumpers. It is normal for a coach to celebrate with his athletes when they attain success,” said Ying How.

“We can’t blame Stewart as Starc won the gold medal.”

“As far as we are concerned, Stewart did his part in preparing our jumpers and he also supported them accordingly during the competition.

Newenham said it is not uncommon for a coach to train athletes from different countries.

“Stewart had three of his jumpers in the final yesterday. It is not a major issue. We were aware about it when we granted the accreditation.

“Everyone should remember that Nauraj cleared 2.30m (personal best) under Stewart. We pay him by sessions and I think it is a good model to put athletes into successful existing programmes.

“We had offered Stewart to come to Malaysia but he is not available at the moment,” said Newenham.