Former track cyclist from Australia, Anthony Peden, is now facing several accusations for inappropriate behavior following his unexpected departure as New Zealand’s track sprint head coach.
Peden, who was finally able to end a super successful stint that lasted five years a couple of days ago, is now under investigation by the High Performance Sport NZ.
The body has already confirmed the news and is now carefully investigating each story of inappropriate behavior that Peden, 47, is allegedly involved into.
There are several reports which claim that drinking, a relationship with one of his best athletes, and bullying, have been all part of Peden’s teaching methodology.
Toxic environment
So far, there have been more than 20 staff members who have left the organization Peden was part of since the Rio Olympics 2016. Many believe it was the inappropriate and toxic environment the cycling team had the reason for the resignations.
Peden was the last one to leave saying in a CNZ statement that he was stepping down from his position due to his approach which apparently, wasn’t aligned with the CNZ’s one.
However, sources claim that the reason behind his decision came after a formal complaint which was laid a couple of weeks ago.
“While I don’t yet have all the facts it is clear that we could and should have done more with the information we had,” High Performance Sport NZ representative said.
“I will be commissioning an investigation so that we get to the bottom of this and learn from our mistakes.”
Australian-born cyclist represented his country as a successful track sprinter before deciding to switch allegiance to New Zealand around 20 years ago.
