7 Dec 2024

How the system failed Olivia Podmore

From Saturday Morning, 7:32 am on 7 December 2024
A photograph of Olivia Podmore, looking back at the photographer over her shoulder and smiling. She wears a black singlet and has a tattoo of the Olympic rings on her shoulderblade.

Olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore died in 2021. Photo: Supplied / Dianne Manson

The Olympic cyclist died in August 2021 of a suspected suicide, the day after the end of the Tokyo Olympics, which she was not selected for following a contentious nomination process.

Now, three years later, a coroner's inquest has shed light on the years of bullying Podmore endured, and how conditions did not improve for her, despite an independent review slamming the culture at the high performance-track-programme in 2018.

RNZ's Sports Correspondent Dana Johannsen joins Mihi to explain what has been revealed at the three-week inquest.