WHEELS HAVE COME OFF
As ‘bully boy’ Sutton goes, GB stars reveal sport’s toxic culture
SHANE SUTTON stepped down as the head of British Cycling yesterday and the wheels came off as Great Britain riders celebrated his demise, claiming he presided over a ‘ toxic culture of fear, nepotism, bullying and corruption’.
The Australian strongly denies the allegations, but with only 99 days to go until Rio 2016, one Olympic hopeful remarked that even with the Games so close it was worth being without a head coach whose reign had become poisonous.
‘Absolutely 100 per cent there was a culture of fear for years,’ said another British Cycling insider. ‘He was such a manipulative, nasty man and a bully.
‘He’d bully somebody and put his arm round them the next second and that’s how he got his allies, because they were so scared of being bullied again. Shane was the central baddie but not the only one and there is more to come.’
There is already further strife on the horizon with Sportsmail revealing UK Sport have demanded an investigation into claims official Team GB performance kit was being sold online for profit.
There are also suggestions that state-of-the-art road bikes — worth up to £10,000 and purchased with National Lottery money — have gone missing, while GB kit, including high-performance skinsuits, have been made available to buy on ebay for £99.
Sprint cyclist Jess Varnish and highly decorated Paralympian Darren Kenny blew the lid in Sportsmail on Sutton’s regime with allegations of sexism and discrimination.
European, Commonwealth and world medallist Varnish said Sutton told her ‘go and have a baby’ after dropping her from the Olympic squad, and that her ‘ass’ was ‘too big’ for certain roles on the team.
Kenny and other sources claim Sutton referred to para-cyclists as ‘gimps’ and ‘wobblies’. The allegations led to Sutton — who was made an OBE in 2010 — resigning as technical director yesterday.
More riders and staff members, past and present, are now coming forward to tell their stories, although others have come out in strong support of Sutton.
Olympic gold medallist Geraint Thomas said: ‘ There is absolutely no place for inequality in sport, and the recent accusations made against British Cycling need to be looked at and treated seriously.
‘However, I would like to talk about my personal experience and say that Shane is one of the main reasons I am where I am today.
‘He has always wanted the best for British riders and gone the extra mile for us.
‘The inequity issues won’t finish with Shane’s resignation. There is a problem with inequality in cycling as a whole that needs to be addressed.’
Sutton, who took over as head coach at British Cycling in 2014 after working as No 2 to Dave Brailsford in the run-up to London 2012, certainly divides opinion, but his tactical brain and commitment to winning championship medals are not in question.
Former Great Britain track and road cyclist Rob Hayles told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘He was very good with the riders, with the coaching and the mental side.
‘He worked extremely well alongside Sir Dave Brailsford. They were good cop, bad cop, but unfortunately bad cop, bad cop does not work at all.
‘There is a climate of fear and that has been shown. It was all started when Jess Varnish did not make qualification for Rio in the women’s team sprint. She was very outspoken and I think the proof is in the pudding — she is gone.
‘I am fairly confident that had she not said anything and just got on with it, she would still be on the squad. This is the problem — a lot of the riders and staff are treading in fear in the velodrome.
‘If Shane is gone now, there will be a certain amount of relaxing. People can get on with their jobs and look after their performances up until the Olympics.’
Among the most damaging claims made against Sutton was that he called members of the highly successful Para GB team ‘gimps’.
One source told Sportsmail that Sutton had said: ‘Get those f****** gimps off the track.’
Disability charity Scope reacted with horror. Lisa Quinlan-Rahman, director of external affairs, said: ‘It’s shocking to hear allegations of this kind of outdated and discriminatory language being used to mock disabled sportspeople.’
Tim Hollingsworth, head of the British Paralympic Association, said: ‘ London 2012 was really important in demonstrating the world- class nature of Paralympic sport and we are looking to Rio to do even more of that job and show the public the incredible athletes that compete and continue that journey of transforming perceptions of disability.’
There were new allegations yesterday of discriminatory language used by Sutton, although one rider excused it as ‘just his sense of humour’.
Malaysian cyclist Josiah Ng alleged Sutton called him ‘Boatie’, which could be interpreted as a reference to people sailing from Asia to seek asylum in Australia.
Ng said: ‘ I could have taken offence and maybe I should have, but I chose to shrug it off as his twisted sense of humour.
‘There are always people who act the way he does. It looks like it’s catching up with him. I’d say, “Hey Sutto”, and he’d say, “Hey Boatie, how you going?” Never in a negative context, but I don’t know if he was aware it was derogatory.
‘ I don’t think he’s racist. His actions are racist, but I don’t think he’s a racist.’
He would often call a top Malaysian rider ‘Boatie’