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As the simmering feud between Pearson, Australia’s most high-profile athlete, and Hollingsworth boiled over on Wednesday in Scotland, AA were forced into action as they tried managing what’s been described as the Athletics’ equivalent of the swimmers’ 2012 Olympics.
On top of the Hollingsworth issues, it was a massively dramatic night all round for the Australians in Glasgow, one that saw:
- Kim Mickle win gold in the women’s javelin as compatriot Kelsey-Lee Roberts took bronze;
- Jeffrey Riseley qualify for the 800m final despite being shouldered out of contention by a fellow runner in semi-final;
- Australian weightlifter Francois Etoundi reportedly arrested and charged with alleged assault after an incident in the Commonwealth Games village;
- And, Steve Hooker’s wife, Russian 1500m runner Ekaterina Kostetskaya, banned from competition for using drugs. Under IAAF Rule 32.2b Kostetskaya was charged for “use/attempted use of a prohibited substance/method” at the Daegu 2011 world championships after finishing fifth in the 800m.
Along with all that, the rift between Hollingsworth and Pearson – one that started following a meet in Poland last March, where Hollingsworth was critical of Pearson’s silver medal-winning performance – took centre stage.
But the whole situation went to another level on Wednesday when Hollingsworth used a private relations firm to release his version of events, describing Pearson, the athletics team captain in Glasgow, as a ‘bad example’ for the other athletes after she did not attend a pre-games camp.
According to AA president David Grace, Hollingsworth specifically defied instructions by AA CEO Dallas O’Brien in doing so and the coach has now been suspended by the organisation, despite the athletics events in Glasgow only just having started.
“Sally was coming all along (to the camp) until the last minute when she opted to take a race in London," said Hollingsworth in his statement.
"What's lost here is she's the team captain and there's a reasonable expectation she'd be in the camp ahead of something as major as the Commonwealth Games. Her no-show sets a bad example to the entire national team."
Hollingsworth also discussed the moment the rift started and defended his confrontation with Pearson after the World Indoor Championships in Poland.
"Some time has past since Sally's camp has released its version of events publicly, and there's been some adverse reaction so I've decided the facts of the matter need to be addressed," he said.
"I asked legitimate questions of her after the race (in Poland), and she didn't like the line I was taking. So via her agent she sorted a meeting with Athletics Australia's president, CEO and High Performance Director, which I was not aware of until the day of, or day before the meeting.
"While I thought at the time it was curious that I wasn't involved in that process in any form, Sally raised her issues, and the powers-that-be found no problems with my actions, and there was no case to answer.
"Subsequently Sally dug her heels in, as is her right, and asked for what is a new 'athlete performance adviser' which is the conduit between the athletes and Athletics Australia.
"I am that person for the bulk of the high performance athletes, but not all, from a work-load point of view. So we re-assigned Sally, which is fine.
"We had a good working relationship for nearly a decade, but she decided my challenging style wasn't what she was looking for, which is her prerogative."