"His investigation took listeners deep inside the closed world of Irish rowing, a world where winning medals mattered more than athlete welfare, and where silence was expected, not questioned. And this week, the controversy reached a new level. The chief executive of Rowing Ireland did not attend an Oireachtas committee hearing into the safeguarding of high-performance athletes at the organisation in what was described as an "extraordinary meeting before it ever started"."
"The hearing took place following revelations in the Sunday Independent of a toxic high performance culture in Rowing Ireland across two Olympic cycles, Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024. Former rower Monika Dukarska told TDs and senators during a private session last week that while she accepted the demands of elite sport, she did not consent to "an environment governed by fear, intimidation and selected silence, used as a form of bullying"."
Irish rowing experienced revelations of a toxic high-performance culture spanning Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024, prioritizing medals over athlete welfare and enforcing silence. The Rowing Ireland chief executive did not attend an Oireachtas committee hearing on safeguarding high-performance athletes, creating an 'extraordinary meeting before it ever started.' A former rower described an environment governed by fear, intimidation and selected silence used as bullying. Sport Ireland partially suspended Rowing Ireland's high-performance funding two years ago over handling concerns; Rowing Ireland receives €1.4m annually for its high-performance unit.
Read at Irish Independent
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