More should have been done when Olivia Podmore was suicidal, an inquest has found

This story explores the themes of mental health and suicide. The list of hotlines is available at the bottom of the page.

Stronger steps should have been taken to assess Olivia Podmore when she expressed suicidal thoughts, an inquest has found.

Instead, the elite cyclist, exposed to bullying within Cycling New Zealand (CNZ) and seen as a whistleblower, was deemed to be at low risk of suicide.

The Rio Olympian died of a suspected suicide at the age of 24 in August 2021, at the end of the Tokyo Olympics, for which she was not selected.

Psychiatrist Dr Erik Monasterio told Podmore’s inquest that she had been signaling distress since early 2021, including discussing ways to take her own life.

Monasterio, an expert witness at the inquest before coroner Louella Dunn, concluded that there was a duty to exercise due diligence to appropriately assess Podmore or to subsequently refer her to a psychiatrist, neither of which doctors dealing with it he did.

“Given her known history of being considered a whistleblower, given the stress in her relationship with sports organizations and what appears to me to be a fairly common pattern of variable but definite mental deterioration, more decisive steps should have been taken at this time. “

Monasterio said that having suicidal thoughts to cope with stress, especially at a young age, is not a normal reaction and should be a warning flag – especially since this was a new answer from January 2021.

An earlier investigation found Podmore was the target of bullying and harassment from her coach and teammates after she inadvertently revealed a coach-player affair during a training camp in Bordeaux ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

By 2018, allegations of abuse at Cycling New Zealand surfaced in the media and lawyer Mike Heron launched an investigation.

Monasterio said people labeled as whistleblowers generally don’t do well, let alone those so young, because it’s hard for almost all whistleblowers.

“You have to make sure that person doesn’t get double trauma. It was an important event for the young person.

“Olivia found herself at the center of an investigation that left her feeling extremely vulnerable and appeared to begin to show distress as the Heron investigation and its findings became public.”

He said Podmore needed to get assurances from CNZ that she would be protected in the future as part of the primary duty of care.

Especially since her goal in life was to achieve success in elite cycling at the world’s most important events, which made it difficult to file a complaint with CNZ.

“Complaining about the institution on which your destiny depends is very compromising. It’s like biting the hand that feeds you.”

But he said she felt her role in the Bordeaux incident negatively impacted her trajectory in the cycling program.

Podmore herself said so suffered “mental torture” and after the Heron report exposed a litany of cultural and leadership failures, as well as athlete welfare concerns, she was promoted to Tier 1 carded athlete and given back pay.

However, over the next 12 months its status dropped to Level 3, its lowest level in several years.

At the same time, according to the investigation, there appeared to be a lack of specific, detailed psychological support.

This was despite Heron writing a separate, confidential letter to CNZ’s then chief executive Andrew Matheson, in which she outlined issues that could “give rise to further action”, including allegations that in July 2016 Podmore was intimidated by two of her teammates.

However, Matheson previously told the Hamilton inquest that he had seen it “lack of material value” in taking disciplinary action against people who allegedly caused harm to Podmore.

Regarding Matheson’s final letter to Podmore asking for a “line to be drawn” on bullying, Monasterio stated that if a person is a victim of bullying, they would want a fair outcome, and the question was whether Podmore believed the closing letter was a fair outcome .

If she didn’t, she would feel even more powerless, he suggested.

In 2020, Podmore unsuccessfully appealed CNZ’s decision not to select her for selection as a sprinter for the Tokyo Olympics.

Two days before her death, she watched a teammate she could have beaten win a medal at the Olympics and an endurance cyclist perform poorly in a sprint race.

Where to get help:

Do you want to talk? Free call or text to 1737 anytime to speak to a trained advisor for any reason.

Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357

Suicide Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO (24 hours a day, 7 days a week). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide or are worried about their family or friends.

Depression hotline: 0800 111 757 (24/7) or SMS 4202

Samaritans: 0800 726 666 (24/7)

Youth line: 0800 376 633 (24/7) or free text 234 or email [email protected]

What’s up: free advice for children aged 5-19, online chat 11:00-22:30 7 days a week or freephone 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787 11:00-23:00

Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 Mon-Fri 9am-8pm or text 832 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm. Languages: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and English.

Rural support hotline: 0800 787 254

Helpline: 0800 611 116

Rainbow youth: (09) 376 4155

Outline: 0800 688 5463 (18:00–21:00)

If it is an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

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