- Charlie Walsh
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David Barry Vivian Walsh, better known just as Charlie Walsh, was the national coach for the Australian Cycling Federation at the Australian Institute of Sport from 1980 to 2001. He oversaw Australia's rise from between 20th and 30th in world track cycling to number one in 1993 and 1994. Australia came third at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
Walsh won more than 1,000 times in 25 years of racing at national and state level, including the Austral Wheel Race in 1969 on a 50yd handicap.
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Coaching career
Over his career as coach, Australia won two Olympic gold medals, nine silver, nine bronze and ten world titles. He coached Michael Grenda, Mike Turtur, Dean Woods, and Kevin Nichols, Charlie's Angels, to win the 4,000m team pursuit at the 1984 Summer Olympics. This was seen as a turning point in Australian cycling at world level.
In 1996 Walsh heard about the development of the Superbike by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), after Olympic cyclist Kathy Watt was involved in a photo shoot with the bike. Development and production of the bike became a collaboration between the Australian Institute of Sport and RMIT.
Walsh was a tough taskmaster, leading to heated criticism of his style. His demanding training nurtured Brett Aitken, Shane Kelly, Dean Woods, Kathy Watt, Bradley McGee, Gary Neiwand and Stuart O'Grady.
Walsh created and conducted international coaching courses in Switzerland for the international cycling body.
Criticisms
A number of scandals rocked the Australian cycling under Walsh. These include accusations that selection was biased in favour of Australian Institute of Sport cyclists, often ignoring other riders, and that the track team used a banned growth hormone tablet. Those allegedly involved cannot comment for fear of legal action.
Kathy Watt
Kathy Watt, who won two medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, was in legal dispute with the Australian Cycling Federation in 1996 over who would race the 3 km pursuit in the Games. Watt had been told that she would be, but she was replaced only few days before the event by Lucy Tyler-Sharman. The case went to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport, claiming breach of contract. The court upheld her appeal and ordered her to be reinstated in the pursuit.
Following the Games, Walsh's comments about her led to defamation lawsuits, which Watt won.
Stephen Pate
In March 1998 there were allegations that selectors, including Walsh, had been biased in favour of riders in the AIS squad. The selection procedure was questioned after Bradley McGee (a former AIS rider) was selected even though he did not attend the selection trial or ride the national championship, while national madision champion, Stephen Pate (not a member of the AIS squad), was not selected.[1]
Matthew Gilmore
At the August 1998 world championships in Bordeaux, France, Australia did not perform to expectations. Walsh came in for criticism from the winner of the madison, former Australian rider Matthew Gilmore, who had taken Belgian citizenship and won with Etienne De Wilde: "I found it very stupid when Danny Clark and I were the number one (Australian) six-day riders here in Europe for two years and we weren't selected for the madison for Australia. It's their loss and my gain. I was fortunate to be able to have the option of ... getting the Belgian citizenship, where I have the full support from the Belgian Cycling Federation."[2]
Lucy Tyler-Sharman
During 1998 the head of the drug unit of the UK Sports Council, Michelle Verrocken, accused the Australian track team of using a growth hormone, Insulin Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1), found in Colostrum tablets. Verrocken raised doubts on the legality of Colostrum saying: "We have to ask whether it is a scientific advance of sport or cheating."
Walsh ordered the purchase and use of Colostrum for his squad, to overcome illness. At the 1998 Commonwealth Games cyclist Lucy Tyler-Sharman is alleged to have refused Colostrum which precipitated argument with Walsh and her expulsion from the team and the games. The Australian team doctor said: "We would not get involved in administering anything that was dubious. Colostrum is a dairy product, not a drug. It is produced naturally at the moment of birth for babies to suckle before breast milk appears." This was supported by Brian Sando, an Australian medical official at the Games, who said: "Colostrum is high in IGF-1 (human growth hormones) but the simple fact is that when it is taken orally in tablet form, the IGF-1 is denatured in the stomach and cannot be absorbed into the body. The only way it can be absorbed is by injection. Colostrum in tablet form is nothing more than a training aid, as vitamins are, and it helps stave off infection."[3]
Tyler-Sharman claimed she had been sabotaged by the team management by forcing her to change pedals before the semi-final of the 3000m pursuit. After her expulsion, the first Australian athlete sent home from a Commonwealth Games, she said: "My problems relate to ongoing troubles with my sport, track cycling and its officialdom.".
Awards and Retirement
On Australia Day 1987 Walsh received an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for service to cycling as national coaching director. Three years later in 1990 he was awarded the status of World Coach by the Union Cycliste Internationale. He has won nine awards as Australian Coach of the Year for all sports, and was awarded the Australian Sports Medal on 14 July 2000.
Since his retirement as head coach he has been a coaching consultant with cycling, including supporting and being involved in the organisation of the Tour Down Under in South Australia. In 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Walsh assisted Adelaide coach Neil Craig with fitness work at the Australian Football League team, the Adelaide Crows.
References
External links
- Superbike at the Powerhouse Museum
- AIS/RMIT Olympic superbike
- Cycling News - A woman's view of the Watt Saga - 1996
- Cycling News 20 March 1998
- Cycling News August 1998
- Cycling News - Australian Cycling Problems 21 September 1998.
- Retirement of Charlie Walsh as head coach of the Australian cycling team in 2001
Categories:- Cycle racing in Australia
- Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
- Living people
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