Athletics Australia has "insisted that three star athletes whom they admitted had done the 'right and sensible thing' by not attending a pre-Commonwealth Games camp should also be stripped of funding for not attending that camp," according to Michael Gleeson of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Olympic champion Sally Pearson, new joint national record holder Alex Rowe and reigning Commonwealth Gold Medal discus thrower Benn Harradine were "all financially punished despite doing what their sporting body says was the smart thing to do." Pearson, Rowe and Harradine all lost a "third of their pre-games funding because they did not arrive in the team camp in Gateshead, England, before a July 17 deadline after each had decided competing elsewhere was more important." Athletics Australia High Performance Manager Simon Nathan admitted the athletes had "all done the right thing but they were all being financially punished anyway." Nathan said, "We are, and I know it probably doesn’t look like it or feel like it, we are a sensible organization, and we will... make sure none of the preparations for those athletes is compromised by what happens here but there is a clear message about how we operate" (SMH, 7/21).
