Nicole Cooke has backed up Jess Varnish’s claims of sexism in British cycling in a stinging critique of the way the sport is run.
Wales’ former Olympic champion has voiced her sympathy for Varnish and claimed cycling in the UK is still riddled with double standards between the men’s and women’s programmes.
Varnish voiced allegations of sexism after she was dropped from the Great Britain team, claiming that technical director Shane Sutton had told her to “go and have a baby”.
Cooke, who has been a fearless and outspoken critic of sexist attitudes in sport ever since she was denied a chance to compete at the 2000 Olympics because she was said to be too young at 17, said: “I have my own personal experiences of Shane and sympathise with Jess.
“She was in the position so many have found themselves: speak out and your dreams will be destroyed and years of hard work wasted. Or put up with it and hope.”
Writing in a column for The Guardian, Cooke added about the organisation British Cycling, “When challenged, those at the top of these sports are well versed in the platitudes they need to put out to deflect the temporary criticism. A well-crafted statement of intent, a desire to rectify; but the reality is decades of inaction. Sexism spins all the way down from the top to the bottom. Somewhere in the middle of this are Shane Sutton and Jess Varnish.”
Cooke goes on to question the claim by British Cycling that Varnish was dropped from the team preparing for the Rio de Janiero Olympics purely on the basis of performances.
She says: “They just do not see it. Rather than attempt to dissect what might or might not have been said, let’s look at a few facts . . .”
The former world road race champion from Wick, near Bridgend, details how all four members of the men’s road race team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where she won gold, failed to finish.
The same men’s failure occurred, she says, at the 2006 Commonwealth Games where she was the only member of the Wales women’s team. Cooke finished third in Melbourne, while all six men failed to finish.
She points to the shorter sprint distances cycling imposes for women compared to men and says women are treated as “second class citizens”.
Cooke also reveals the test event for the road race at the London 2012 Olympics – where she was the defending champion – was a men’s race and that when she asked why the women were not involved she was told she could get a feel for the course by sitting in the team car.
In another claim, she states: “In readiness for the 2012 Olympics, the McLaren Formula One team were commissioned to produce special bikes for the British riders to take advantage of every possible “marginal and aerodynamic gain. Which was good if you were a man but, of course, women were excluded . . .
“Hypocrisy and double standards in respect to gender are ingrained in cycling and many other sports but this is hidden in reports of events. I am often asked, how can it be stopped? . . .
“UK Sport have to be held to account and the best people to do this are the sponsors. Professional sport only exists because of sponsors whose customers do not want to see discrimination. Sponsors can demand that organisations actually comply with their own policies on gender equality.
“When I won the world road race championships, Sky sponsored a men-only team. I never received a penny, but I still had to wear the logo. Was Sky aware of the inequality of the distribution of its funds to the sport? I am confident that it was not.”
A British Cycling spokesman said: “A gold medal is valued by us, no matter who wins it and we are equally proud of all our Olympic and world champions.
“The medals won by the Great Britain Cycling Team are testament firstly to the dedication and talent of our riders but each of them are also a tribute to a significant investment in passion, commitment and resources by our performance staff.”