Olivia Podmore died in August 2021 in a suspected suicide.
Photo: Dianne Manson / RNZ Composite

Olivia Podmore laughs with fellow elite cyclist Sam Dakin.
Photo: Provided / Dianne Manson

This story discusses mental health and suicide. A list of helplines is available at the bottom of the page.

Olivia Podmore’s former coach refused to take the young cyclist to the start line before her races at the Rio Olympics because he told her: “You don’t deserve to be here”, an inquest into her death heard.

Podmore’s treatment at her first Olympics was among a series of serious allegations of abuse described by the coach’s ex-wife, Nicholle Bailey, who gave evidence at Hamilton Coroner’s Court on Tuesday.

Podmore, 24, died in a suspected suicide in August 2021 – less than 24 hours after the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics.

Bailey told the court another member of the Cycling NZ coaching staff had to take Podmore to the 2016 Olympic Games because her ex-husband refused to do so.

“Every game (the coach) texted her saying she didn’t deserve to be there and she should be thankful,” she said.

“She told me that as she was coming out of the pits, he whispered in her ear, ‘Don’t crash, don’t crash, just don’t crash.’

Podmore was involved in a crash in the keirin event at the Rio Olympics and returned to do the sprint the next day.

Olivia Podmore pictured at the 2016 Olympics after crashing from the keirin event.
Photo: Photosport Ltd

The previously unknown detail was met with an emotional response in the public gallery, with several onlookers breaking down in tears.

Three weeks before the Rio Games, Podmore inadvertently revealed that the coach was having an affair with one of her teammates during a training camp in Bordeaux.

Both the coach and athlete cannot be named due to suppression orders in place.

On Tuesday, Bailey told the court he did not become aware of the “Bordeaux incident” until nearly two years later.

Nicholle Bailey, a friend of Olivia Podmore and ex-wife of one of Cycling NZ’s coaches, is giving evidence at the inquest into Podmore’s death.
Photo: Mark Jephson / Stuff

After independently learning about her husband’s ongoing relationship with an athlete, Bailey said she approached then Cycling NZ chief executive Andrew Matheson about her concerns.

Matheson told him he had been in the know for some time but couldn’t do anything unless Podmore was prepared to make a formal statement, Bailey said.

At this point, Bailey contacted Podmore, who agreed to meet for coffee.

Bailey told the court that during this meeting, another athlete saw Podmore’s car parked at her home and the information got back to the coach.

“The harassment towards Olivia escalated after that,” Bailey said.

“(Coach) would berate Olivia about every aspect of her personal life. Who she saw and when, what she ate, the size of her butt, her haircut, how many guys she slept with and more. He was relentless.”

Asked by Podmore’s stepfather Chris Middleton how the young athlete felt about the comments, Bailey said: “He felt terrible. You are a young girl, you have the right to live a life. It would be the same as if it were me. at work and my boss was giving away my personal life and using it against me everyday.

More than 25 witnesses are expected to testify at the three-week inquest.
Photo: Pool / RNZ, Cole Eastham-Farrelly

Bailey said other members of the track cycling team witnessed the assault but did not say anything about the treatment.

“They certainly saw it and heard it. They didn’t help. If it worked to make their lives easier, then they would support what is being said (by the coach).

“She was ostracized and bullied by what (the trainer) called the A-Team. They sure used to help them hit the dog when it’s down, like that.”

Bailey said her knowledge of Podmore’s mistreatment on the program came from witnessing her ex-husband discussing the young athlete at home among a “boys club” of other coaches and a few health practitioners, and from what which Podmore later revealed to him.

Bailey told the court that the athlete with whom her ex-husband was having an affair would reveal private information about Podmore through their friendship and pass it on to the coach.

She said the pair continued to victimize the young cyclist even after the coach left Cycling NZ in mid-2018.

After leaving the organization, the coach connected with another international program and continued to train the athlete with whom he was in a long-distance relationship. Bailey told the court the athlete would occasionally fly to join the coach overseas for training blocks.

“The (coach’s) continued link with CNZ through (the athlete) meant that a tone of bullying and prejudice continued despite his resignation.”

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