Australian rower Sally Robbins missed selection for the Beijing Olympics yesterday, ending her attempt to redeem her controversial performance at the Athens Games four years ago.
Robbins earned the nickname “Lay Down” Sally and attracted media attention around the world after she stopped rowing in the late stages of the women’s eights final at Athens, lying down in her seat and costing her crew any chance of a medal in the event.
Initially vilified, she later attained a degree of celebrity in Australia, then some admiration as she worked to rehabilitate her image and to regain her national team place for Beijing.
Robbins specifically sought selection in the women’s heavyweight quad scull, but after a series of moderate performances in Olympic trials races she was omitted from the Olympic team named by Rowing Australia.
The 26-year-old had struggled to find her best form this season and was paired with a different partner during recent trials to determine the best combination in the double scull.
Rowing Australia’s high performance director Noel Donaldson said Robbins simply was not fast enough to qualify.
“The girls actually who are rowing in the boat she was trialing for — Catriona Sens and Sonia Mills — medaled at the World Cup a couple of years ago as well, so she was against some pretty good opposition,” Donaldson told reporters in Canberra.
Sens was in the same eights boat as Robbins four years ago and infamously slapped her at a function after the Games, though the pair appeared to have reconciled during the trials when they raced together.
Sens and Mills still have to qualify the boat for Beijing through a regatta in Poznan, Poland, in June.
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