- Joined
- Aug 10, 2008
- Messages
- 12,500
- Points
- 113
Everthing has a price ! I guess !
=========================================================
An Australian swim coach has sparked a storm after admitting selling the training program used by his protege Jessica Schipper for "big money" to the Chinese girl who beat her at the Olympics.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ken Wood sold his top-secret training methods, which transformed Schipper into a world-record breaking 200m butterflyer, to the Chinese coach of Liu Zige, according to News Ltd newspapers in Australia on Sunday.
Previously unknown, Liu came out of nowhere to win gold in the event here and shatter Schipper's world record by 1.22 seconds in the process, leaving the Australian a distant third.
It was only China's third gold since its prime at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, when it won four.
"They pay for the programs," Wood was quoted as saying. "They pay good money, big money. I wouldn't help them for nothing."
Wood denied betraying Schipper, saying he hadn't trained Liu since Australia's Olympic trials in March.
The 78-year-old, in the coaching business for 40 years, did not reveal how much China paid, but reportedly said the poor money he received as an Australian coach forced him to seek work from others.
Woods, who runs a high performance swim school north of Brisbane, offers a program for elite swimmers on stroke technique, weight training, diet and preparation.
Liu has trained at the school three times over the past three years, along with her coach Jin Wei, a former breaststroke expert who has his own swimming club in China's Liaoning province.
Woods admitted he was torn by the sight of Schipper being beaten by Liu, who he calls Lucy because he can't pronounce her name properly.
"I feel bitter-sweet, I do," he said. "Money is one thing, I have to make a living, but Jess is my swimmer, I've brought her through since she was a 12-year-old - and Lucy has beaten her."
Asked if he had cost Schipper a gold medal, Wood replied: "I don't know. I can't answer that. But I wanted Jess to win. My heart is with Jess. I wanted gold for her. I didn't want Lucy to win."
Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates admitted to reporters in Beijing that Australian coaches were low-paid or voluntary and were forced to seek income elsewhere.
But he said that training overseas swimmers should not be seen as unpatriotic.
"We are not a country that can point the finger at poaching," he told Australian Associated Press.
"Remember from the establishment of the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) in the early 80s, by the time of Sydney 2000, in our Olympic sports we had almost 200 foreign coaches in Australia.
"And that was one of the major reasons that we improved our position."
Coates added though that Australia needed to do more to retain its top coaches, and that a plan would soon be in place to do this.
Liu is not the only Chinese swimmer to train in Australia, with rising star Zhang Lin, who won a 400m freestyle silver here, being aided by Grant Hackett's old coach Denis Cotterell.
Zhang finished seventh in the 1,500m final Sunday, with Hackett second.
=========================================================
An Australian swim coach has sparked a storm after admitting selling the training program used by his protege Jessica Schipper for "big money" to the Chinese girl who beat her at the Olympics.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ken Wood sold his top-secret training methods, which transformed Schipper into a world-record breaking 200m butterflyer, to the Chinese coach of Liu Zige, according to News Ltd newspapers in Australia on Sunday.
Previously unknown, Liu came out of nowhere to win gold in the event here and shatter Schipper's world record by 1.22 seconds in the process, leaving the Australian a distant third.
It was only China's third gold since its prime at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, when it won four.
"They pay for the programs," Wood was quoted as saying. "They pay good money, big money. I wouldn't help them for nothing."
Wood denied betraying Schipper, saying he hadn't trained Liu since Australia's Olympic trials in March.
The 78-year-old, in the coaching business for 40 years, did not reveal how much China paid, but reportedly said the poor money he received as an Australian coach forced him to seek work from others.
Woods, who runs a high performance swim school north of Brisbane, offers a program for elite swimmers on stroke technique, weight training, diet and preparation.
Liu has trained at the school three times over the past three years, along with her coach Jin Wei, a former breaststroke expert who has his own swimming club in China's Liaoning province.
Woods admitted he was torn by the sight of Schipper being beaten by Liu, who he calls Lucy because he can't pronounce her name properly.
"I feel bitter-sweet, I do," he said. "Money is one thing, I have to make a living, but Jess is my swimmer, I've brought her through since she was a 12-year-old - and Lucy has beaten her."
Asked if he had cost Schipper a gold medal, Wood replied: "I don't know. I can't answer that. But I wanted Jess to win. My heart is with Jess. I wanted gold for her. I didn't want Lucy to win."
Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates admitted to reporters in Beijing that Australian coaches were low-paid or voluntary and were forced to seek income elsewhere.
But he said that training overseas swimmers should not be seen as unpatriotic.
"We are not a country that can point the finger at poaching," he told Australian Associated Press.
"Remember from the establishment of the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) in the early 80s, by the time of Sydney 2000, in our Olympic sports we had almost 200 foreign coaches in Australia.
"And that was one of the major reasons that we improved our position."
Coates added though that Australia needed to do more to retain its top coaches, and that a plan would soon be in place to do this.
Liu is not the only Chinese swimmer to train in Australia, with rising star Zhang Lin, who won a 400m freestyle silver here, being aided by Grant Hackett's old coach Denis Cotterell.
Zhang finished seventh in the 1,500m final Sunday, with Hackett second.
