Nick Bendel
Sally Robbins: National disgrace or innocent victim?
July 15th 2008 06:17
Although Sally Robbins declined to be interviewed, the other members of the women’s eight crew who rowed in that infamous Athens final did air their views.
And how revealing those views were, bathing in grey an issue that for many observers had been either black or white. To some, Robbins had acted in an unequivocally gutless and selfish manner, leaving her courageous teammates in the lurch. Others, though, saw her as a little girl lost, who had been shamefully bullied by her supposed friends.
In an earlier article, Sport: The Australian Disease had leaned towards the latter position. Reproaching those who had attacked her- including “members of her crew, who were quick to ostracise the humiliated rower”- Robbins had been held up as “somebody who has always deserved understanding, and even praise.” Her “exceptional discipline and years of sacrifice” had been noted, and her “Olympic spirit” commended. “So when such a person tries their utmost to succeed in the intensely demanding environment of an Olympic final- only to fail- criticism is the last thing they deserve.”
Watching the Australian Story piece, Robbins still appeared to be an innocent victim (or at least a largely innocent victim). But so, too, did the rest of the crew. After all, they could also be credited with “exceptional discipline and years of sacrifice”. If Robbins had collapsed in that final “through no fault of her own”, then the other girls had seen their chances of a medal snatched from them, through no fault of their own. They had spent years and years straining towards, and dreaming of, this one glorious moment, only to watch it vanish in the most incomprehensible of circumstances. One could not help but sympathise with the anguish that they felt, and which most of them still feel. They deserved better.
If Robbins was an innocent victim, and if the rest of the crew were innocent victims, who, then, is to blame? This is where the story becomes complicated. A strong case could be made to put it all down to fate. All the crews competing in that final would have suffered “years of sacrifice”; none of them deserved to fail. But there can only be one winner. Success in sport- just like success in life- is determined by hard work and natural talent, but luck also plays a part. That day, while fate decreed that those three elements would come together for the Romanians, Americans and Dutch, who took out the medals, it deserted the Australians. Such is sport. Such is life.
Yet a strong case could also be made that it was not so much the Gods who were responsible for the ‘Lay Down Sally’ debacle as certain individuals. According to the interviewees on Australian Story, Robbins had suffered up to nine meltdowns in the years prior to Athens. And those meltdowns, it was said, were due not to her endurance or technique, both of which were exemplary, but her mind. For whatever reason, during the climax of several races, at the moment when the rowers had been required to dig deeper than ordinary humans ever have to dig, Robbins had been unable to do so. Her mind had shut down, and her body had followed. Through no fault of her own, she had failed to match her teammates. In the rowing fraternity it was known that when the pressure was at its most intense, Sally Robbins could not be counted on.
Questions therefore need to be asked as to why the coach, Harold Jahrling, and the officials of Rowing Australia chose to count on her. Robbins may have had no less talent than anybody else, Robbins may have worked no less hard than anybody else, Robbins may have made no fewer sacrifices than anybody else, but if she could not be counted on, then logically she shouldn’t have been selected. Rather, her place should have gone to one of the girls who could be counted on- girls who were no more morally entitled to the place, just better qualified.
When Robbins was confronted about her meltdowns, she explained that they were behind her, that next time everything would be fine. A harsh judge might condemn Robbins for these assurances, maintaining that she was putting her own interests ahead of her crew. But could she really have been expected to give an objective answer? For not only was her fortitude being called into question, but so was the very spirit that had made her an elite athlete. Nobody rises to the top of a sport unless they possess fierce self-confidence and an unquenchable sense of competitiveness. So who could be critical that when this particular elite athlete was challenged, she provided a self-confident and competitive response?
As Athens approached, Robbins’s teammates became increasingly nervous. They worried that she might fail- some even claimed that they just knew. However, it was now too late to make any changes. Thanks to a combination of Jahrling and Rowing Australia and Robbins, Australia’s women’s eight crew would be counting on somebody who couldn’t be counted on. They may have been responsible for the debacle that was about to occur, or it may have been fate- but as Australian Story made clear, it hardly mattered. All the sacrifices, all the hard work of that women’s eight crew were soon to come to naught. All of them were innocent victims.
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