Greg Tourelle: In defence of a rower who gave all she had

COMMENT

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client Sally Robbins stands before you, accused of the most heinous of crimes.

You have heard the prosecution claim that she has brought Australian sport into disrepute, that she breached Olympian ideals and was un-Australian in her behaviour.

First the facts. Ms Robbins was a member of the Australian rowing eight in the Olympic final. With just 300m to go of 2000m, she slumped back in her seat. The team-mate behind her exhorted her to continue, but she could not.

Any chance of a medal was gone. The team finished last.

You have heard evidence and seen some video of the aftermath ... the scathing reaction of the team coach and her team-mates. And you have heard the comments of previous team-mates and witnessed evidence from other so-called sports stars and non-rowing journalists.

And what venom has flowed from their tongues. My client has been called a quitter, a serial piker and has had to wear the epithet Laydown Sally. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, imagine how she is going to feel whenever she hears that querulous Eric Clapton song.

You heard Aussie Rules legend Ron Barassi say, and I quote: "I think she should have been unconscious before she gave up." And former Olympic 400m gold medallist Cathy Freeman said: "From a distance, to give up is almost very un-Australian."

From a distance, members of the jury, from a distance. Ms Robbins is not a genteel sprinter or an aerial ping-ponger as those Aussie Rules players are known. She is a rower, a participant in the toughest, gut-busting sport in the Olympics.

And I submit to you, she bust her guts for her country. We have heard the rhetoric of her team-mates, how they had risen before sparrow's ... sorry, Your Honour, how they had risen before dawn for four years in pursuit of their Olympic dream. Well, so did Ms Robbins.

Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard that Ms Robbins may have also collapsed at the 2002 world championships quad sculls final, though video evidence is inconclusive. And you have heard her team-mates' doubts, before the final in Athens, that she might collapse again.

But Ms Robbins was selected for the eight. She worked hard for it. If it was a poor selection, that was not her fault. If there were fears she might collapse, did management have a psychologist on hand to help out? No.

The defence in this case concentrates on one aspect, that this was a poorly organised race.

Defence witness Pat McNamara, who is chairman of Rowing Australia, said his organisation's most optimistic expectation was that the women's eight would finish fifth.

Listen to his quote, from the Sydney Morning Herald: "The reason we were challenging the Romanians at 1250 metres was because of Sally. If she's told to bust for her country and her team, she'll do that."

You have also heard that the crew's former coach, Lyall McCarthy, after witnessing the verbal attacks by crew and coach Harald Jarhling on Ms Robbins, spoke to them afterwards to reinforce that they were only in contention at all because of Ms Robbins' performance in the first half of the race.

The disappearance of coach Jarhling overseas almost immediately afterwards only serves notice that this was not a well-managed team.

The defence notes that in a climate where winning is everything, there is going to be disappointment, but the public nature of the comments by team-mates again points to poor management. The air should have been cleared behind closed doors.

I submit there has not been a sporting outrage like it since Greg Chappell instructed his brother Trevor to bowl underarm at New Zealand, home of Olympians par excellence Sarah Ulmer, Hamish Carter and Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell.

Sorry, Your Honour?

Ah yes, I do hail from New Zealand. I apologise for the digression.

A Canadian rower collapsed during the final of the men's eight, but his coach later embraced him.

My submission is that what happened to Ms Robbins has happened to other rowers, to other highly tuned, well-prepared athletes such as marathon runners and triathletes. They give their all and sometimes they collapse before the finish of their races.

Ms Robbins has not brought Australian sport into disrepute, but her accusers have.

She has not breached the Olympian ideal. If one accepts Mr Barassi's ideal of pushing oneself into unconsciousness, we are going to have a lot of drowned rowers. And who can define what un-Australian means?

Mr Foreman ... sorry Ms Eightwoman, I ask that you acquit Ms Robbins ... and quickly. She wants to train this evening for the Beijing Olympics ... what was that Your Honour?

No Sir, she's aiming for the single sculls.

- NZPA