By Dana Johannsen of RNZ
Warning: This story discusses mental health and suicide
The father of former Christchruch cyclist Olivia Podmore has described her death as a "grievous, senseless, and entirely preventable tragedy" at the opening of an inquest into the Rio Olympian's suspected suicide in August 2021.
In his first public comments since the 24-year-old's shock death, Podmore's father Phil and her brother Mitchell made a joint statement to the court via their lawyer Hamish Evans, during opening statements on an emotional first day at the three-week hearing at the Hamilton District Court.
The Podmores asked how "a situation could have arisen where a young star of New Zealand cycling" could have contemplated taking her own life.
The family's statement detailed how Podmore moved to Cambridge under the care of Cycling NZ in 2015 when she was only 17 - "still legally a child".
It later touched on one of the central controversies during Podmore's time in the elite programme, the "Bordeaux incident", which was referred to extensively during evidence on day one of the inquest.
Podmore unwittingly exposed an inappropriate relationship between a coach and athlete in the weeks leading up to the Rio Olympic Games, after the reporting that her teammate was missing and had not returned to the hotel after curfew.
It was later discovered that the teammate had been out drinking with the coach.
The family's statement revealed the far-reaching consequences the incident had on the young cyclist, after she was "outed as a whistleblower".
"Cycling New Zealand put her in a position where she got bullied and ostracised … it must have been a truly awful position for a young athlete to find themselves in through no fault of their own."
The statement also addressed Podmore's heartbreak at missing out on selection for the Olympic Games in 2021. The young cyclist died less than 24 hours after the closing ceremony for the Tokyo Games.
"For an elite athlete whose world revolved around being a full-time track cyclist competing internationally for the country, this was a devastating blow. It was all the more devastating because Olivia did not understand why she was not selected.
"She tried to appeal that decision, and questions remain."
"For someone as focused and driven as Olivia, it must have been a crushing experience and ultimately it proved to be so. Every person has a breaking point … a sense where one feels there is no second chance."
Olivia Lund, representing High Performance Sport NZ (HPSNZ), acknowledged in her opening statement the challenges Podmore faced in the system, for which she said the organisation is "deeply sorry".
"At the outset, HPSNZ wants to emphasise that it acknowledges and accepts the culture and conduct issues within the cycling high performance environment, as identified in the Heron Report in 2018, were a significant stressor for Olivia," Lund told the court.
"HPSNZ also accepts that Olivia's perception of unfair treatment, including non-selection for the Tokyo Olympics, was a significant stressor for Olivia and affected her mental health."
However, HPSNZ cited suicide is "not always predictable, or preventable".
"Olivia had a complex medical history with both physical and mental factors impacting on her sporting performance and general health over a long period of time.
"There were multiple stressors that contributed to Olivia's mental health challenges, some of which arose from within the cycling high performance environment and others which were personal to Olivia," Lund said.
Earlier in the hearing held by coroner Louella Dunn, Podmore's mother issued a plea to those appearing before the court to remember her daughter with the "kindness and dignity" that she deserved.
Before evidence got underway, Nienke Middleton, took the opportunity to remind the court who the person behind the headlines was.
"The next few weeks are going to be incredibly challenging for me. I'm going to have to sit here listening to people tell their versions of who my daughter was, what she did and why she did it.
"Before you start, I want to tell you exactly who she was. Livi was the most wonderful daughter I could ever have hoped for. She was strong, determined and when she wanted something she didn't let anything get in her way. When she wasn't a hurricane she was the most caring, loving and happy girl you could imagine.
"Please remember my daughter with the kindness and dignity she deserves."
'Triggered by trauma'
The Bordeaux incident, which led to Mike Heron's 2018 review of Cycling NZ, referred to extensively throughout the opening day of the hearing, which has been set down for three weeks.
A former Cycling NZ employee told the inquest that Podmore was "furious" with how key details of an 2018 inquiry into Cycling NZ were "amended" by the national body ahead of the report's publication.
Jessica Massey, who worked for the national body for more than a decade, including as campaign manager during a critical period in 2014-2017, was a key contributor alongside Podmore to Heron's review, which investigated allegations of bullying, intimidation and an inappropriate coach-athlete relationship.
Central to Heron's report was the treatment of Podmore, who he found had been pressured to "cover up" for her team-mate who was intimately involved with one of the coaching staff after their relationship was exposed following an incident in Bordeaux, France in the lead-up to the 2016 Olympic Games.
Both the coach and the athlete cannot be named due to suppression orders in place.
Massey said she became close with Podmore following the incident in Bordeaux.
"We were triggered in trauma," said Massey, who was sent home from Bordeaux after raising serious concerns about the behaviour of the coach.
The former Cycling NZ employee submitted to the court that Podmore was bullied and ostracised after returning from the Rio Games.
"Upon the cycling team's return to New Zealand, the bullying against Olivia escalated. The surrounding sprint squad, both athletes and coaches, enforced the hierarchy that [the coach] had set.
"There were occasions where I would be out for coffee with Olivia, and she would be receiving text messages from her team telling her to 'shut her mouth'. It was awful to see. I felt that I had done all that I could in attempting to prompt senior leadership to take action against this behaviour."
The issues stemming back to Bordeaux did not come to a head for another 18 months, when media reports surfaced of a "toxic culture" in the Cycling NZ high performance programme. The widespread reporting prompted High Performance Sport NZ to carry out an independent inquiry into Cycling NZ.
Heron's investigation uncovered "distressing and sinister" examples of bullying, a lack of accountability and "sub-optimal" leadership in the programme, "opaque" selection methods, a culture where there was a fear of reprisal for speaking up, and that poor standards of behaviour were accepted of those deemed critical to the success of the programme.
However, Massey said that she and Podmore were unhappy with how certain incidents were portrayed in the final report.
"We were furious at how the details in relation to the Bordeaux incident had been amended from the previous version we had read," Massey submitted in the brief of evidence.
"The CEO of CNZ at the time, Andrew Matheson, was given the final review of the report. He had added footnotes throughout the report saying that he was not aware or advised of the issues we said we had reported to him. We had time-stamped emails and screenshots of when he was notified of these reports that clearly disproved Andrew's assertion."
Massey said Podmore later tried to address the omissions in the report as part of "further outcomes" with Cycling NZ's leadership.
She got emotional when she recalled seeing the letter Podmore received in response from former Matheson.
The letter informed Podmore that Cycling NZ had considered the additional points raised after the Heron report, and it considered the matter to be closed.
"She sent me the letter and it was just, 'Same shit, different day. Can you believe this, for f***'s sake'," Massey told the court.
"I said to her, 'Liv, this is a legal matter, this is a personal grievance, you can take it further.
"She just wanted to move on and be the best athlete she could be, and she didn't feel like pursuing it any further and having it affect her standing in the organisation."
The court also heard evidence on Monday from strength and conditioning specialist Shaun Paterson, who worked with Podmore in the Cycling NZ programme up until 2020.
Paterson told the court how he supported Podmore in a meeting with Matheson in mid-2018, in which the young cyclist told the then-CEO of the ill-treatment she continued to receive from her teammate and coach.
Paterson described how Podmore became "distraught" during the meeting as she spoke of the on-going impacts of the Bordeaux incident.
"At times, Andrew looked genuinely surprised at the information shared regarding [the coach-athlete] relationship. I remember thinking there was no way he could not have already known the details of the relationship given it was common knowledge within CNZ," Paterson said.
"By that point, she was at her wits' end. She was very much in angst … she had not only been personally impacted but it had impacted her career."
Matheson is expected to give evidence later this week.
More than 25 witnesses will be called during the three-week hearing, including Podmore's former coaches, past and present leaders of Cycling NZ and High Performance Sport NZ (HPSNZ) officials.
Where to get help
Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.
Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357
Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO (24/7). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 (24/7) or text 4202
Samaritans: 0800 726 666 (24/7)
Youthline: 0800 376 633 (24/7) or free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz
What's Up: free counselling for 5 to 19 years old, online chat 11am-10.30pm 7days/week or free phone 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787 11am-11pm
Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm or text 832 Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and English.
Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254
Healthline: 0800 611 116
Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155
OUTLine: 0800 688 5463 (6pm-9pm)
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
