In one of the most bizarre episodes to erupt at the Athens Olympics, the Australian women's eight rowing crew were reprimanded yesterday for laying in to "Lay Down Sally."
Sally Robbins had triggered a heated debate back home after she collapsed with exhaustion three quarters of the way through Sunday's final.
With about 600 meters of the 2,000-meter race to go, Robbins, acknowledged as one of the team's most powerful rowers, slumped backward and let her oar dangle in the water. The boat, which already was out of medal contention, slowed dramatically and trailed in last.
Despite an agreement not to speak publicly about teammates' performances, the crew lashed out at Robbins immediately afterwards and reportedly refused to speak to her after the race, which was won by Romania, ahead of the US and the Netherlands.
The Australians finished fifth and Robbins, promptly dubbed "Lay Down Sally" by one Australian newspaper, said her team mates had threatened to throw her out of the boat.
The high-profile failure has dominated Olympic coverage in Australia since Sunday, eclipsing gold medals the sports-mad nations' athletes have won on the cycle track and in the diving pool.
The Telegraph has led criticism of Robbins' performance, branding it "Just Oarful" in a front-page headline on Monday.
But a poll of readers conducted on the paper's Web site showed that most Australian sports fans are sympathetic to Robbins' plight.
Eager to end the ugly war of words, Australian Olympic Chief John Coates yesterday said: "There have been breaches of our team guidelines which say team members shouldn't talk disparagingly about other team members."
But Australian athlete Cathy Freeman was not so sure. The Sydney 400 meter gold medalist said: "From a distance, to give up is almost very un-Australian."
The Sydney Morning Herald took exception to this, saying, "To label Robbins a quitter and un-Australian, for example, is un-Australian in the extreme."
Robbins said she was crippled by physical exhaustion.
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