Claims of "widespread classification cheating" in Great Britain are "baloney," UK Athletics Paralympic program head coach Peter Eriksson said, according to Rick Broadbent of the LONDON TIMES. Eriksson also said that Michael Breen, a classification campaigner and father of Para-athlete Olivia Breen, "got his facts wrong when addressing a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday." Breen said that Eriksson had asked for one of his personal athletes to be reclassified after becoming head coach in '09. Although Breen did not name the athlete, "it was clear he was referring to Hannah Cockroft," Britain's five-time Paralympic champion. However, Eriksson said that he did not start working with her until after he became head coach. Cockroft is "understood to be incensed by Breen's remarks." Eriksson, who said that he "would have been at the hearing but for a recent knee operation," said that Britain was "at the forefront of classification." Asked if British officials had been manipulating the system, he said, "I know for a fact it has never been like that in [the] U.K. To say there has been cheating by me is almost a court case but Michael Breen is protected by parliamentary privilege. Now he says he is suing me, which will be interesting." Breen, meanwhile, claimed athletes had been "bullied for years." Eriksson: "Bullying is the new in-word in sport. Michael Breen is a parent who is unhappy because his daughter was not picked for the relay team in Rio, but she was not fast enough" (LONDON TIMES, 11/2).
NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE: In London, Diane Taylor reported athletes, coaches, parents and officials "shed new light on the depth of their concerns about cheating in Paralympic sport in written submissions to a parliamentary inquiry." Former Paralympic runner Ian Jones said in his submission that he "walked away from his sport after becoming disillusioned with the system." Jones: "In my experience, classification has always been open to manipulation and has never been fit for purpose. It needs to be completely overhauled to make it safe and fair." Charlie Bethel, a wheelchair basketball classifier, said that while he thought the system was "generally well managed," he had witnessed some "concerning incidents" (GUARDIAN, 11/2).
