C'wealth Commonwealth Games - Glasgow 2014

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imadodgyumpire said:
Look at the state of Australian Athletics. What else are they going to say?

And the surprise is?


I suspect there's more to this, than what's been letting on.
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Well maybe he is part of what is wrong with Australian athletics-seems to me A.Aths is doing ok though. When I first heard this issue I expected that most people would be critical of Pearson, so it has surprised me that its actually only a few old grumps on BF who have been so.
Even if there is more to this that we know(pretty obvious statement) -the request to keep it in house and post games is quite reasonable-why couldn't he do that?
 
romeoh said:
Well maybe he is part of what is wrong with Australian athletics-seems to me A.Aths is doing ok though. When I first heard this issue I expected that most people would be critical of Pearson, so it has surprised me that its actually only a few old grumps on BF who have been so.
Even if there is more to this that we know(pretty obvious statement) -the request to keep it in house and post games is quite reasonable-why couldn't he do that?
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What he did, was nothing to get sand in the panties about.
 
imadodgyumpire said:
What he did, was nothing to get sand in the panties about.
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Yep -didn't seem that bad to me but people who seem to be in the know,thought his form was worse that hers-so that tells me something. e.g. He has form, he is about to get the chop regardless, he is not doing a good enough job, he is not respected by the team- wotevs. You would think at least one person would speak in his favor-nope.
 

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romeoh said:
Yep -didn't seem that bad to me but people who seem to be in the know,thought his form was worse that hers-so that tells me something. e.g. He has form, he is about to get the chop regardless, he is not doing a good enough job, he is not respected by the team- wotevs. You would think at least one person would speak in his favor-nope.
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I'm sure he'd speak for himself, but hasn't been allowed to? There was nothing in the press statement that was bad. And thoes that would speak up for him, I suspect are the lesser profile athletes. Whom if they did speak up, would most likely be shunned by the senior figures. It's the politics of it, at play. .
 
imadodgyumpire said:
I'm sure he'd speak for himself, but hasn't been allowed to? There was nothing in the press statement that was bad. And thoes that would speak up for him, I suspect are the lesser profile athletes. Whom if they did speak up, would most likely be shunned by the senior figures. It's the politics of it, at play. .
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Well I don't mean him-of course he will have a positive view of his stance. He did say she was a poor role model which is surely not helpful for the team's spirits in the midst of a campaign.
Am not referring to athletes-why hasn't anyone come out on his side? And why would you suspect 'lesser profile' might?
 
Bradesmaen said:
I'm backing the coach over the diva. So many Aussie athletics people become divas when they win something because they are rare.
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Whether his opinion is correct or not, what is not correct is someone in his position voicing his opinion, during the Games, the day before Sally's event, when he was specifically warned to not publicly voice his opinion.

imadodgyumpire said:
What he did, was nothing to get sand in the panties about.
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See above. Someone of his age, experience and position should be able to behave better. Now his opinion is irrelevant. He is the clown being sent home like a chastised school boy.
 

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What an absolute beast! ROARRRRRRR!
 
Bradesmaen said:
I'm backing the coach over the diva. So many Aussie athletics people become divas when they win something because they are rare.
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Speaking as someone who has been reprimanded at work several times for when/how I say things even when they're correct, I'm reasonably confident that while he might have been correct, 1 day before an event isn't the right time (unless it's some kind of obscure plan to fire her up and/or make her feel loved).
 
I first knew of Eric Hollingsworth in the mid 1990's soon after he arrived in Australia from the UK. He was a decathlete, although I'm uncertain of the level he achieved in terms of representing England. On the UK All time list he is ranked 16th with 7748 points. That would have been good enough for 6th at Glasgow . (Aussie Steve Cain finished 5th with 7787). http://www.decathlon2000.com/eng/862/

Eric started training at the Newport track, home of the Williamstown AC around 1994/95. I believe he knew someone connected to the club. He still holds Williamstown AC club records in the 110m Hurdles, shot put, pole vault and the decathlon.

http://www.williamstownac.org.au/testsite/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Open-Men-Records-30-April-2011.pdf

I was involved with the Jim Bradley stable in the early 90's that trained at Newport and competed for Williamstown in Atletics Victoria competitions. Bradley's squad was the best sprint squad in the land. It included Steve Brimacombe and Jim's athletes still hold most of the Williamstown male sprint records including a slick sub 41s for the 4x100m.

I remember Jim Bradley telling me about a run-in he had with Eric down at Newport. I can't recall exactly what happened but Jim felt Eric was disrespectful to him. He was pretty pissed off with Hollingsworth and after the run-in, refused to acknowledge him even though they trained at the same venue.

From what I saw and heard of Eric, he had a rather abrasive way of expressing himself.
I move to Adelaide in 1997. I remained involved in athletics and so was still abreast of what happening on the athletics scene across SA & Victoria.

I was not aware of any coaching credentials Eric had but remember him getting a job at the Victorian Institute of Sport. South Australian Jagen Hames won the Commonwealth Games decathlon gold medal at Kuala Lumpur in 1998 (with 8498 points). Hames had won the national decathlon title in 1998 with a score of 7868 points.

Within a year or two, Hames moved to Melbourne to train with Hollingsworth at the VIS for the 2000 Olympic Games. I recall a Sprinting seminar in March 1999 conducted by Athletics SA where Hollingsworth was on the panel along with Peter Fortune (Cathy Freeman's coach) and Michael Khmel ( Matt Shirvington's coach). From what I knew, Hollingsworth had little or no history of coaching sprinters apart from his decathlon coaching. He spoke about 'speed' being critical to most of the decathlon events and talked 'up' Hames' Olympic Games preparation.

Hames seemed to be constantly injured while in Melbourne and did not compete at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. In fact Hames never represented Australia again, post the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
http://athhistory.imgstg.com/athletes/athlete1111.htm

It was surprising that Eric wasn't held accountable for Hames' results whilst at the VIS, but I can only assume there was more to it than that. He was soon appointed the VIS head track & field coach. A position he held for four years.

In 2005 Hollingsworth was appointed Athletics New Zealand High Performance manager. Some time in 2006, I recall a rumour that went around about Eric and a NZ female athlete. http://www.coolrunning.com.au/forums/?showtopic=9496

He was suppose to be the Athletics NZ HP manager until the 2008 Olympics but he suddenly resigned 12 months into the job, citing family reasons.

Eric Hollingsworth was appointed head coach of AA following the 2008 Olympic Games. Part of his contract was that he had to cease coaching his personal squad, mainly to avoid any conflict of interest. Despite that being a part of his contract, he defied AA and continued to coach athletes including Sean Wroe. Following the national championships in 2010, John Steffensen blew up over his non-selection for the Dehli Commonwealth Games. He was most incensed that one of the members of the panel reviewing his situation was Eric Hollingsworth who was still coaching his (Steffensen's) rival, Sean Wroe.
I can only assume AA reminded Eric of his contractual obligations but Eric appeared to be still coaching Wroe and a few others including the 2011 Bendigo Thousand Gift winner Tim Rooke. http://protrack.easyforumlive.com/t8-bendigo-thousand-winners-trainers-list

In 2011 Eric was warned by AA CEO Dallas O'Brien to cease coaching individuals and concentrate on the team.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/track-coach-eric-hollingsworth-clears-the-air/story-e6frf9if-1226011645274

I've had athletes at the level to represent Australia and at the time Eric was friendly to me, albeit he was intimidating to talk to. However as soon as I was no longer coaching athletes at that level, when ever I went to an athletics meeting, Eric wouldn't give me the time of day. I guess you could say it was not in his nature to be outgoing and say hello etc; however I reckon if you are the head coach it wouldn't hurt to be a tad encouraging and say hello and ask how the athletes are going. I know I would if I was in that role.

Another athlete who moved to Melbourne to train with Hollingsworth was Dylan Grant, a very good 400m runner from Queensland who moved from Glynis Nunn's squad on the Gold Coast to train with Hollingsworth in Melbourne. Grant had run 45.6 under Nunn, but after about 2 years with Hollingsworth where he suffered a number of setbacks and failed to reproduce his Queensland form, he returned to the Gold Coast basically broken down. He is now back running with Glynis and will be a part of the CG 4x400m squad that competes tomorrow in Glasgow.

Otis Gowa left Brisbane after winning the 100m national title (2008) and went to train with Eric Hollingsworth. By 2010 he had suffered several injuries, had his funding cut and was forced to return to Queensland.
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/06/15/3526315.htm

There have been several instances where Eric's heavy handed approach has caused issues with athletes. He argues he is aggressive in his approach because he reckons the athletes need to be toughened up. But, seriously, these athletes are already pretty tough. There’s little money in athletics, so the athletes generally have to make it on their own, sometimes for many years, until they get to the stage where they reach the performance level that warrants Eric’s attention. It’s ridiculous to suggest they need to be toughened up by the HP manager. That’s the role of the athlete’s personal coach and the athlete concerned. The HP manager’s role is to provide the infrastructure and support so the athlete can reach their potential.

As Nicole Jeffery has written in today’s Australian, Hollingsworth was working closely with Pearson and her new and inexperienced coach Anthony Drinkwater-Newman as she defended the World Indoors 60m hurdles title. Pearson ran 2nd and had a heated exchange with Hollingsworth soon after. As Hollingsworth put it in his now infamous statement this week, Pearson “took exception’’ to his evaluation of her performance. “I asked legitimate questions of her after the race, and she didn’t like the line I was taking,’’ he said.

Oh Really? Eric thinks it’s OK to questions of an Olympic, World and Commonwealth Games champion on a performance where she wins a silver medal in a world level event?

Eric appears to be under some delusion that once an athlete gets to the elite level, they should feel privileged to be under his control.

The problem for Eric is that he has ridden on the coat tails of Sally Pearson, Steve Hooker and a few other world level medallists. They are his meal ticket. Without international superstars like Pearson, he would be out of a job. He forgets he isn’t responsible for discovering nor coaching them to the elite level so he can have the PRIVILEGE of working with them.

When Eric Hollingsworth tried to shine the blow torch on Sally Pearson, Sally responded by sticking up a mirror which has reflected a more massive light on Hollingsworth.

Eric finally took one too many bites from the hand that feeds him.
 
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Yeah, Sally sounded like SUCH a diva in her trackside interview :rolleyes:

btw, she ran an impressive heat :thumbsu:

and 3 Aussies in the 100m Women's Hurdles final :thumbsu:
 
Scoopar said:
I was not aware of any coaching credentials Eric had but remember him getting a job at the Victorian Institute of Sport. South Australian Jagen Hames won the Commonwealth Games decathlon gold medal at Kuala Lumpur in 1998 (with 8498 points). Hames had won the national decathlon title in 1998 with a score of 7868 points.

Within a year or two, Hames moved to Melbourne to train with Hollingsworth at the VIS for the 2000 Olympic Games.
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That puts an interesting light on something I've always wondered about. Jagen Hames was the World Junior High Jump champion, and was persuaded to switch to Decathlon very early on (I don't think he ever competed seriously as a senior at High Jump). Now he did OK at Decathlon (Comm Games Gold), but his PB at High Jump was 2.30 at age 19. Yes, he would have been competing against Tim Forsyth (Forsyth was also jumping 2.30 at about age 18), but it always seemed to me, and many others, an odd decision.
 
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