CNZ calls in reinforcements amid athlete welfare inquiry

Cycling NZ has recruited additional management support for under-fire chief executive Jacques Landry.

The national body yesterday confirmed the appointment of a former High Performance Sport NZ senior executive, Dr Monica Robbers, to the newly created position of chief operating officer.

The role has been established in the wake of the independent inquiry into Cycling NZ and High Performance Sport NZ following the sudden death of elite cyclist Olivia Podmore.

Podmore, a Rio Olympian, died on

August 9 of a suspected suicide, prompting serious questions over Cycling NZ’s commitment to athlete welfare and the safety of New Zealand’s high performance environments generally.

Documents obtained by Stuff under the Official Information Act also reveal that fresh allegations of misconduct by a ‘‘named individual’’ within the organisation were raised with the Minister for Sport and Recreation, Grant Robertson, after Podmore’s death.

In a statement on its website, Cycling NZ said the appointment of Robbers will allow Landry to ‘‘concentrate on all the work related to the inquiry, as well as the parallel coronial inquiry’’.

Stuff understands Cycling NZ and High

Performance Sport NZ have also engaged Wellington crisis management communications company BRG following Podmore’s death.

Robbers, who was previously general manager strategy, intelligence and networks at High Performance Sport NZ, and senior manager at the Independent Police Conduct Authority, has been appointed for a six-month term, beginning on Monday.

Her brief is to ‘‘oversee all the normal business of the organisation’’, including work with member organisations, marketing, communications and financial administration.

The next two months loom as a fraught time for all national sports organisations, with funding applications for the next High Performance Sport NZ investment cycle due at the end of the month, and decisions announced in early December.

‘‘[Robbers’ appointment] will also mean that there is additional resource available to help deliver key projects. These include the development of a high performance plan and budgets for the 2022-24 cycle that must be submitted to High Performance Sport NZ for approval, along with a review of cycling’s performance at Tokyo,’’ the Cycling NZ statement read, adding that campaign reviews are conducted after every Olympics.

‘‘Looking forward, additional work is also expected to be generated from 2022 as a result of the independent inquiry report.’’

The independent inquiry, co-chaired by former solicitor general Mike Heron and leading sports academic Dr Sarah Leberman, is still in the early stages of information gathering and research. Interviews with participants will not be carried out until the next stage of the process.

It is the third major inquiry undertaken into Cycling NZ in eight years, following Heron’s 2018 investigation into allegations of bullying, intimidation, and an inappropriate personal relationship between a coach and athlete; and a 2013 review conducted by law firm Martin Jenkins.