Ta Has Let Me Down, Says Jones
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday May 2, 2000
World No1 Michellie Jones accused Triathlon Australia of letting her down by failing to lodge her protest over the world championship race in Perth on Sunday.
Fallout over the shortened race course in Perth continued yesterday as Australian selectors sat down to decide which six men and women will compete at the Olympics, based on performances at the Sydney World Cup and Sunday's world championship.
Jones claimed the Perth results were so distorted they should not count towards Olympic selection.
``I don't think the worlds should even count because it was not over the proper Olympic distance," said Jones, who won the bronze medal. ``The course was short ... I don't think the results are valid."
Triathlon Australia chief Tim Wilson said the selection policy allowed for the fact that the results from Perth were distorted but said it was premature to say whether Australian gold medallist Nicole Hackett would be denied automatic Olympic selection after winning the discredited event.
Jones fears TA did not protest on her behalf so as not to cast doubt over Hackett's performance in winning the title.
The 30-year-old from Sydney believes she may have caught Hackett had the course not been more than 2km short, an error that had dragged the sport into international disrepute.
In the final stages, Canada's silver medallist Carol Montgomery and Jones were gaining fast on Hackett, closing from over two minutes down to finish just seven and 43 seconds behind respectively.
Hackett staggered over the finish line after giving her all and had no energy left to celebrate.
As soon as Jones learnt the course was short she asked TA's Olympic athlete program manager Emery Holmik to lodge a protest to the International Triathlon Union.
But Holmik said yesterday the time to lodge a protest had lapsed, a claim Jones disputes. Jones and Montgomery were together when the error was revealed and decided to protest. The ITU received a protest from the Canadian team, which was dismissed.
``Once again my federation has let me down," Jones said. ``Maybe the title should not be awarded after everything that happened.
``The race would have been different if there was another 2km. It is not just the medals that are affected, there is financial loss from prizemoney and race bonuses from sponsors. It has an overall effect. It is a shame it has happened to our sport.
``I feel sorry for Nicole. The record book will show she won, not that the course was wrong.
``I don't think I would have beaten Carol because she dropped me, but I was not slowing down any and certainly Nicole was."
Jones's training partner and teammate, Chris McCormack, made representations to TA's selectors stating he was disadvantaged after being given incorrect race instructions, along with the rest of the field, for the final run leg on Sunday. McCormack personally lodged an appeal to the ITU, which was dismissed.
The ITU left Perth early yesterday, leaving local organisers to deal with the mess. Race executive director Toni O'Donnell blamed a computer error, saying the mistake was made in transcribing the course map from hard copy to CD-ROM. While accepting some of the blame, O'Donnell said the ITU must shoulder some responsibility for not conducting its own management of the circuit.
© 2000 Sydney Morning Herald
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