The former head coach of the Athletics Union Charles van Commenée institutes summary proceedings against athlete Tony van Diepen. The reason is the statements by Van Diepen in a study by NRC and Fidelity that came out last week. In it, Van Diepen says that his former coach would have suggested the use of thyroid hormone pills in a conversation with him and fellow athlete Thijmen Kuipers.
In a statement, Van Commenée writes that with his statements, Van Diepen makes “any performance of athletes who have worked with or under me” suspicious. The former Athletics Union coach says that “his integrity is at stake” and that “publicity about the accusation causes major reputational damage”. In summary proceedings, Van Commenée demands that Van Diepen publicly retract his claim.
Read the research here: Intimidation, verbal aggression and belittling: 25 athletes and coaches about the culture in the Dutch athletics world
Unsafe working atmosphere
The research of NRC and Fidelity focused on an unsafe working atmosphere at the top of the Dutch athletics world, in which intimidation, verbal aggression, bullying and belittling athletes are alleged. According to several athletes, Van Commenée played a central role in this. According to Van Diepen, the conversation about the thyroid hormone pills took place in February 2019 during an introductory meeting with him and Kuipers.
Although scientific evidence is lacking that the pills promote performance and the Dutch Doping Authority wants to put the currently legal drug on the doping list, Van Commenée is said to have said that Van Diepen and Kuipers “had to look for the edges”. When the athletes refused, it would have collided. “He got angry and didn’t think we were real top athletes because we didn’t want to go that far,” said Van Diepen.
A few days after the publication of the research, a group of sixteen athletes, including Femke Bol and Nadine Visser, issued a statement of support for Van Commenée. They say in it that they do not recognize the unsafe work culture, as outlined in the study.
Also read: Athletes face each other by declaration of support to Van Commenée and Roskam