A disgraced Cycling NZ coach, who resigned after a relationship with an athlete in the system, would allegedly bully Olivia Podmore right before races whispering in her ear “just don’t f***ing crash” and often “berate” her on personal subjects including her sex life.
The revelations at the coronial inquest into the death of Podmore came from Nicholle Bailey, the ex-wife of the disgraced CNZ coach, who was a close friend of Podmore for many years up to her death on August 9, 2021.
The coach, who has permanent name suppression in this inquest, would regularly “berate Olivia on all aspects of her personal life” including who she was dating, what she ate, “the size of her bottom, her haircut and how many boys she might have slept with and more”.
Podmore died the day after the Tokyo Olympics finished, an event the track cyclist failed to qualify for following a Covid-19-interrupted selection process complicated by several controversies.
Bailey said she became “really good friends” with Podmore in 2018 “to the point where I treated her like my little sister”.
In 2016, Podmore unwittingly exposed an intimate relationship between a CNZ teammate and the coach after she reported the athlete had not returned home to their hotel after a night out during a training camp in Bordeaux, France, six weeks out from the Rio Olympics.
The fallout from this incident and media scrutiny led to a 2018 independent review by Mike Heron, KC, that found the athlete-coach relationship “inappropriate”. Heron was also responsible for a second damning 2022 report into the culture at CNZ that “prioritises medals over wellbeing” following Podmore’s death.
Bailey said today “Olivia’s role as a ‘whistle-blower‘ during the 2016 Bordeaux incident meant that [Bailey’s then-husband’s] bullying of Olivia had ramped up”.
Bailey separated from the CNZ coach in question in late 2017.
Nicholle Bailey gives evidence during the inquest at Hamilton District Court into the death of Olivia Podmore. Photo / Pool
Olympic legend Eric Murray speaks during the inquest into the death of Olivia Podmore, who he previously mentored. Photo / Pool
In her statement to police as part of the coronial process, Bailey said then CNZ chief executive Andrew Matherson had told her he had known about the athlete/coach affair “for quite some time, and that it was common knowledge among the cycling team”.
Bailey said Matherson told her he would need a statement from Podmore in order to get the coach in question to stand down. Bailey then asked Podmore over to her house to discuss this and her car was seen, exposing the situation to her ex-husband, the CNZ coach, and the athlete he was in a relationship with.
“The bullying towards Olivia escalated after this,” Bailey said.
Examples given by Bailey in court today include her ex-husband allegedly text messaging the then 19-year-old Rio Olympian that she didn’t deserve her team spot in that Games.
The CNZ athlete in the relationship with her ex-husband was also part of the bullying and would “try to crash [Podmore] during racing”, Bailey said.
Bailey said her ex-husband would text Podmore “harassing messages … the littlest most ridiculous things that had nothing to do with cycling”.
“[He] was messaging her the whole time there that she didn’t deserve to be there… he would whisper in her ear as she was leaving the pits, ‘don’t crash just don’t f***ing crash’,” Bailey said.
“She was bullied by the A-team [men’s sprint team].”
Bailey also spoke about her ex-husband being fed information from team psychologists.
“My ex-husband used to know when she had gone to a GP, he knew when she was on the pill … that’s not relevant [information he should know],” Bailey said.
“That information used to be fed back to my husband.
“I believe Olivia’s openness with [CNZ psychologists] was a double-edged sword. In one sense it provided awareness of the difficulties she was facing. However, I’m also aware that this information regularly went further than it should have, resulting in Olivia being ostracised, vilified and bullied by coaches and teammates.
“[The team psychologist and the disgraced CNZ coach] were all part of this ‘boys’ club’. [The psychologist would tell the CNZ coach] about the confidential discussions that would go on in these [private health] sessions.”
Bailey felt “there was a severe lack of treatment if I’m honest”.
She said Podmore told her in February 2021 she was “feeling suicidal” and that a High Performance Sport NZ psychologist was aware of this but “downplayed or minimised Olivia’s state of mind”.
Nienke Middleton, Olivia Podmore's mother, at the inquest into the death of her daughter at Hamilton District Court. Photo / Pool
NZ Olympic legend Eric Murray reveals ‘tipping point’
The two-time Olympic gold medallist rower was a friend and mentor to Podmore in the years before the 24-year-old took her life.
Murray was a witness this morning in the coronial inquest into Podmore’s death in Hamilton District Court and spoke about the lack of communication the cyclist received about her non-selection for the Tokyo Games.
“I think the tipping point for Olivia was having to watch the Tokyo Olympic Games after everything she had gone through in connection with her non-selection,” Murray said.
“She watched her ex-boyfriend Tom Murray win a gold medal in the rowing eight. Olivia was upset during this time, but I did not observe any particularly concerning behaviours. She also watched a friend and teammate, who was arguably ranked lower than Olivia, go on to win a medal in an event she had raced in.
“I guess it’s more of a shell shock watching the Olympics … like, what am I going to do? Where am I going to go?”
‘There is no dispute’
At the outset of the coronial inquest, set to run for three weeks, Coroner Louella Dunn said “there is no dispute” Podmore died by suicide.
“The focus of this inquest will be the mental health challenges Olivia faced and the care she received.”
Dunn said the issues the inquest was attempting to answer were:
What were the circumstances of Podmore’s death?
What did High Performance Sport NZ and CNZ know of Podmore’s challenges before her death and did they have sufficient knowledge to help her?
What steps did they take and were they appropriate to address the health challenges?
If another athlete had the same mental health issues today as Podmore experienced, would the response from HPSNZ and CNZ be different?
Olivia Podmore's brother Mitchell Podmore (front) and their father Phil at the inquest. Photo / Pool
Cyclist Oliva Podmore (inset), her mother Nienke Middleton (left) and Nienke's husband Chris Middleton (right) in Hagley Park. Photo / Joe Allison
Three-year wait for answers
In formal terms, coroners conduct inquests to determine the cause and circumstances of death and identify ways to prevent similar deaths in the future.
About 30 witnesses will appear at the inquest, including Podmore’s mother Nienke Middleton and her husband Chris Middleton, who will represent themselves without legal counsel.
“I’ve got to be the lawyer, by default,” Chris Middleton said. “It was probably going to be another $150,000, so we made the fairly simple choice that we’ll do it ourselves.”
The Middletons have already undertaken an extended legal battle to obtain Podmore’s medical records from HPSNZ, costing them tens of thousands of dollars.
More than 1000 medical documents were suppressed ahead of the coronial inquiry, the Middletons say.
Chris said the documents, which they finally obtained in late 2022, made for disturbing reading.
“There’s been an awful lot of noise coming out of [HPSNZ]. They’ve just fought absolutely everything pre-inquest, everything suppressed ... God, it’s just been relentless,” he said.
“There’ll be a lot of nervous people there I would think.”
Nienke said: “We’ve basically had to kick and scream for everything”.
Olivia Podmore (left) with her mother Nienke Middleton. Photo / Supplied
There are a number of non-publication orders for the names of health professionals who worked within the HPSNZ system, as well as a CNZ staff member.
HPSNZ, CNZ and several other witnesses sought non-publication orders through King’s Counsel. In all, there will be four KCs at the inquest - something that riles Chris, given the legal expenses the family has personally endured over several years.
Other notable witnesses at the inquest include friend and two-time Olympic gold medallist Murray, and close friend Andrew McLean, who was Podmore’s housemate at the time of her death, sharing a residence on the outskirts of Cambridge where she died.
Murray and McLean were with Podmore the weekend before she died, skiing in Queenstown.
Among the coaches speaking at the coronial inquiry will be former CNZ lead track sprint coach Rene Wolff and CNZ high-performance director Martin Barras, as well as the chief executive at the time, Jacques Landry.
All three men resigned from their roles in the six months following Podmore’s death.
Sport NZ chief executive Raelene Castle will also appear as a witness.
“We would like to extend our sympathies to the family and friends of Olivia Podmore. HPSNZ appreciates that the coronial inquest will be a very difficult time for them,” Castle said in a statement.
“It may also be a difficult time for those who worked closely with Olivia within the high-performance system and HPSNZ will be providing support if and when needed.
“Athlete wellbeing is one of the three key focuses of the HPSNZ strategy, and a lot of new initiatives, updated policies and compulsory training have been introduced across the high-performance system over the last four years.
“We are all continuously learning, and the coronial inquiry will be an important next step in the process, as we work to ensure that high-performance sport is a place where all athletes can thrive and succeed.”
The Herald has also reported on the personal challenges Podmore faced in the last year of her life after she was told in August 2020 she would not be selected for the Tokyo Olympics. Podmore was using drugs recreationally during this time, and receiving psychological help.
Many fellow CNZ athletes felt Podmore was unfairly treated during selection for those Olympics. A legal dispute around selection lodged by another CNZ athlete close to Podmore complicated matters further.
Tom Dillane is an Auckland-based journalist covering local government and crime as well as sports investigations. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is deputy head of news.
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