JOHN Anderson, the Scottish athletics coach who formerly trained Liz
McColgan, has left the Barcelona Paralympic Games after an incident with
a steward in the Montjuic Olympic Stadium last weekend.
Mr Anderson, who was at the Paralympics as chief coach to Britain's
disabled athletes, was reported to have been involved in a scuffle when
the steward refused him access to an area of the track on Sunday.
Spanish officials apparently stepped in to separate the two.
The British Paralympic Association, whose team has gained a record
haul of more than 35 medals, yesterday denied it had sent Mr Anderson
home.
Mr Anderson, who described the incident as a minor dispute, denied
that he had returned to Scotland under a cloud and said he had always
intended to return on Tuesday to fulfil his obligations as race director
of the Standard Life Princes Street Mile in Edinburgh on Sunday.
The association's press officer, Caroline Searle, said yesterday that
management had been concerned to learn that he was returning before the
Paralympics ended on Monday.
''Our reaction was that, as chief coach, he should be here for the
duration of the games and, under normal circumstances, we would have
attempted to persuade him to stay. But, following the incident, we
believe the best course of action was for him to leave.''
She added: ''The incident took place during competition when an
official wouldn't allow Mr Anderson access to somewhere he wanted to go
to. There was a physical scuffle and they had to be separated.''
Mr Anderson, who claimed the incident involved only an exchange of
words, insisted last night that he had always intended to return on
Tuesday to honour an agreement with the organisers of the Edinburgh
event.
''There is no question of me leaving under a cloud and no question
that my departure was not organised weeks, if not months, ago.
''It appears that there was a breakdown in communications and that the
reason why I was coming back wasn't relayed to other members of staff,
but the transport manager knew.''
Mr Anderson coached McColgan to Olympic silver in Seoul four years ago
and to a second Commonwealth games 10,000 metres title in 1990, before
the partnership split acrimoniously later that year.
A contractual dispute between the two is due to be settled in court
this year.
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