Olympic Winter Institute boss Geoff Lipshut says Australian snowboard team has ‘tennis parents problem’

A SENIOR Australian Olympic official has admitted the snowboard team has a “tennis parents problem”.

A SENIOR Australian Olympic official has admitted the snowboard team has a “tennis parents problem”.

Olympic Winter Institute boss Geoff Lipshut spoke out in Sochi after Alex “Chumpy” Pullin’s disappointing result in the much-hyped snowboard cross race.

“We do have some parents who interfere and we have to work out a way to deal with this – it’s like the tennis parents problem,’’ he said.

The team was rocked by explosive comments only hours before the race by snowboarder Belle Brockhoff’s father, Bruce Brockhoff, who claimed “dozens of Aussies in the know” would be “dancing on the graves’’ of Olympic officials if Pullin “fails to deliver”.

Mr Lipshut, the chief executive of Australia’s most important winter sports institute, was one of the officials Mr Brockhoff named.

“Parents interfering and having these views doesn’t work – it’s like Jelena Dokic’s dad (Damir Dokic) and challenging the draws at the Australian Open and saying things that just don’t make sense,’’ he said.

As part of his official report into Australia’s Sochi performance, he said he would seek advice from Tennis Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport on how to handle meddlesome parents and make recommendations to the institute board.

Bruce Brockhoff, father of Australian Winter Olympic snowboarder Belle Brockhoff.

“It’s not just Bruce – there are others too, but at least here in Sochi they have kept the focus on the athletes to let them do their best,’’ he said, declining to name names.

Mr Lipshut said he did not know if Mr Brockhoff’s attack - which he admitted he made only hours before the race to “gain maximum publicity” - had affected the athletes’ preparation.

“I obviously was concerned about that – what he said and when he said it wasn’t nice and was very sad – all the athletes are really offended,’’ he said.

“Belle is 21 years old, she’s a smart person and a fantastic talent – it makes it difficult for her.’’

The attack blew the lid on discontent among snowboarders Torah Bright, Scotty James, Jarryd Hughes and Brockhoff that Pullin was the sole winter institute scholarship holder in the discipline.

Mr Lipshut said that a special program had been established for Pullin four years ago when he was Australia’s only World Cup snowboard cross racer.

He said about $500,000 had been spent supporting Pullin with his own coach, board wax technician, and travel and accommodation costs over the four years.

“He had very strict KPIs including performances at the 2011 and 2013 world championships, which he won both times, and the Olympics, which we missed,’’ he said.

Mr Lipshut said he would recommend that Brockhoff, Hughes and Cam Bolton be given scholarships, along with Pullin for the next four-year period, although he admitted the “funding pie won’t get bigger”.

“Let’s have a review of the last four years and our performance at the Games - what went right, what didn’t work out and look at putting in place the type of structure that will give us the best result,’’ he said.

He said it would have been better if Olympic officials had postponed the snowboard cross race until the weather improved.

“I think these athletes have in their mind a picture of their event being held on a blue sky day with people cheering them on at the Olympics on a perfect course,’’ he said.

Alex Pullin (left) in action for Australia in the snowboard cross.

“They practice their routines every day – having breakfast at a certain time to be ready for the race to be held at a certain time.

“That didn’t happen here – the event was run much earlier in the day and it was rushed with no seeding races.

“But to be successful as an athlete you need to be able to adjust to things that change.’’

He said snowboard head coach Ben Wordsworth was “devastated” by the results.

Pullin, “over-reached a fraction” by trying to overtake on the inside of a corner and hit a soft bank of snow which dramatically reduced his speed.

“Normally these courses are rock hard,’’ Mr Lipshut said. “I think privately he would be very upset because so much hard work has gone into that – he works his backside off to give himself the best chance.’’