The tragic timing of Podmore’s death
A year ago, the New Zealand Olympic team was preparing to depart Tokyo following its most successful Games yet when the awful news began to filter through.
Sprint cyclist and Rio Olympian Olivia Podmore had died in a suspected suicide. She was just 24. As the country basked in the afterglow of a record medal haul – considered a real fern frond in the cap for New Zealand’s high performance system – Podmore’s tragic death threw into sharp focus the dark side of that equation.
One year on, New Zealand is celebrating another record medal tally, with the 19 gold medals already won in Birmingham heading into the final day surpassing the goldrush at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.
And one year on, Podmore’s family, friends and teammates continue to mourn the loss of a young woman those who knew her best describe as warm, bubbly, thoughtful and kind, with a mischievous streak.
Reconciling those two opposing realities is a fraught task.
In writing this piece about Podmore on a day when she should be remembered for the person she was, there is a sense of discomfort that her name has become an emblem of athlete welfare issues in elite sport. A kind of shorthand for the fault lines that exist within New Zealand’s high performance sport system. A cautionary tale of the dangers of putting ‘‘medals before process’’.
The tragic irony of this twodimensional rendering of Podmore in this way is the findings of multiple reviews into high performance sports environments, including the independent inquiry into Cycling NZ prompted by Podmore’s death, have emphasised the need for ‘‘athletes to be treated as humans first’’.
But there is no getting around the awkward fact that the anniversary of her death comes on the heels of a Games that has come to be seen as a redemption of sorts for Cycling NZ, with 10 of New Zealand’s 19 gold
medals in Birmingham delivered on two wheels. (It should be noted that this is not a storyline that has been pushed by Cycling NZ, whose athletes went to the Commonwealth Games seeking to do the only thing they can do – go out and try to perform to the best of their ability).
We already knew, however, that the New Zealand system has world class athletes. As is so often said around these big multisport events (to the point of ad nauseum) ‘‘we punch above our weight!’’
The real indicator of whether meaningful change has occurred within Cycling NZ and the wider high performance system is not in the medal count, but what occurs off the track.
It is not in how the system celebrates success and honours its winners, but how it supports the almost theres, the injured, the disheartened, and those left behind. In the year since Podmore’s death there has been signs of a cultural shift in the high performance landscape. Cycling NZ has made key personnel changes that have been positively received by the athletes.
High Performance Sport NZ meanwhile released its 10-point action plan to address the findings of the inquiry into Cycling NZ. Some of the plans were already in train before the review panel, headed by top QC Mike Heron and professor in sports management Sarah Leberman, delivered its sobering findings in May. Other initiatives were beefed up or expedited in the wake of the report.
The establishment of a new independent sports integrity entity, a new athlete representative body and a greater focus and investment in women’s health have all been hailed as major steps forward – though detractors remain.
Most importantly, there is a push for greater accountability within the system. The tragic timing of Podmore’s death, which coincides with these major pinnacle events, means we will always remember the cost of focusing on medals above all else.