Cycling NZ ordered to pay athlete $15,000 following Olympic selection dispute

Dana Johannsensports correspondent

Cycling NZ has been ordered to pay $15,000 in costs to Sammie Maxwell after the Sports Tribunal found there had been “serious breaches of natural justice” in the national body’s handling of Olympic selection of the young mountain biker.

In July, the court upheld Maxwell’s appeal over her non-appointment to the Paris Games and took the rare step of nominating the 23-year-old directly to the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) for selection.

Despite last-minute legal wrangling, Maxwell finished eighth in Paris – the best result of his senior career.

This week the case took a final extraordinary turn when the court awarded substantial costs in favor of Maxwell.

Maxwell, represented by Christchurch lawyer Ian Hunt, successfully argued that Cycling NZ had more resources and that it was unfair that she had to pay a substantial legal bill for what the court considered to be a “erroneous decision”.

Cycling NZ was ordered to pay $15,000 towards Maxwell’s legal costs, which totaled $31,000.

Traditionally, the court does not award costs and, when it does, the awards tend to be modest. However, the tribunal panel, led by President John Macdonald, determined that Maxwell’s case was “exceptional”.

In its written decision, the court noted that the decision should not be considered a precedent or “opening the floodgates for successful parties to bring applications for significant costs awards.”

“This decision is based on the exceptional circumstances of this particular case. It could, however, serve as a reminder to (national sporting organisations) to ensure that nomination and selection processes are fair and reasonable.”

Cycling NZ had opposed Maxwell’s costs application, arguing the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the issue.

The national body’s position was supported by the NZOC, which made submissions as an “interested party” in the case – a move which drew a mild rebuke from the court.

“Given that the tribunal found in unequivocal terms that Ms Maxwell was the victim of an unfair and unreasonable selection process, the tribunal is surprised that instead of maintaining a neutral position, the NZOC chose to become involved in the application for costs and to side with (Cycling New Zealand).”

An unintentional case study

This decision ends an “incredibly complex” case, which has been closely followed in the high performance sector.

Cycling NZ declined to nominate Maxwell for this year’s Games citing health reasons rather than performance.

Maxwell, the reigning under-23 world champion, has openly struggled with eating disorders since she was a teenager. The national body determined that she had not demonstrated that she had no “physical or mental impairment” that would prevent her from reaching the highest possible level at the Olympics.

Maxwell appealed the decision, becoming an unintended case study in a wider sporting debate about how sporting bodies balance their duty of care to athletes, without suppressing their individual autonomy.

The 22-year-old won her appeal after the court ruled Cycling NZ relied on inaccurate and outdated medical information in making its decision.

The court was also concerned that Cycling NZ had taken a discriminatory stance towards athletes with eating disorders.

After her eighth-place finish in Paris, Maxwell told RNZ she had no regrets about the affair and the details of her personal health battles playing out in public.

“I guess the worst part about having to go through this process was more the uncertainty of whether I would be here and how long it was taking.

“I wasn’t worried about (being public). I’ve always been very open about my eating disorders in the past and I’m almost happy that it was brought to attention just because I think that perhaps every sporting organization can learn something from this.”

Maxwell hoped her situation might encourage other young athletes facing similar battles with eating disorders to disclose their problems to their sports organizations and work with medical staff to develop a treatment plan.

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