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Exclusive: Hamish Carter handed confidential athlete feedback to Cycling NZ coach Anthony Peden

October 15, 2018

Carter, an Olympic gold medallist, was the High Performance Sport Representative overseeing the sprint programme.

In the wake of this morning's findings of the review into Cycling New Zealand , 1 NEWS can reveal that the distribution of highly confidential documents can be traced back to former triathlon Olympic gold medallist, Hamish Carter.

Carter was acting as the HPSNZ representative overseeing the sprint programme and he conducted the debrief after the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Jainero.

Highly confidential athlete and staff notes from that debrief were obtained by 1 NEWS and they were given to Anthony Peden by Carter. 

Athletes have told 1 NEWS there was a bias due to Peden also being a selector.

High Performance Sport New Zealand boss Michael Scott says that the distribution of the confidential testimonies to Peden is "the area of the report that concerns me the most".

"Confidentiality is fundamental to having a trustful relationship with our athletes.

The breach of confidentiality was addressed by Michael Heron QC, who fronted media today.

"The person who did that has given me their explanation in detail. I've interviewed that person, I've recorded details of that explanation.

"I've found that it was inappropriate... No one else made that mistake."

In his review Mr Heron also identified how some of the sprint athletes' concerns identified in their review were not passed on to those in charge.

Mr Heron goes on to say the omissions meant the sprint report left "a materially different impression" and there was little mention of the "lack of accountability, bullying, boozy drinking culture and shit behaviour," identified by athletes and staff.

Those spoken to by 1 NEWS have said that Carter was seen as "untouchable" within the HPSNZ setup, and many knew he operated outside the rules.

HPSNZ CEO Michael Scott confirmed that the conduct of the individual in question - believed to be Carter - was now under review.

"A process has commenced with the individual concerned. The individual is still working with us but a process has commenced.

"To those athletes whose confidentiality was breached, and to any others impacted by the conduct of High Performance Sport New Zealand, I am sorry."

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