Former UKA head coach looks back on the plastic Brits debate, ‘fatgate’ and Charles van Comedy in Athletics Life Stories podcast interview
It is 10 years since Charles van Commenee stepped down as head coach at UK Athletics. Just weeks after leading the team into a successful London Olympics, he rejected the offer of a new contract because he had not hit his medal target at the Games.
Now, a decade later, he features in the latest episode on the Athletics Life Stories podcast with host Chris Broadbent asking him about a number of controversial moments from his time in Britain.
Known for his uncompromising approach, he famously said British athletes were in danger of being seen as a bunch of “pussies and wankers” by the public due to their habit of making excuses after underpar performances at major events.
Looking back, he says: “I mentioned these words to the press and not to the athletes themselves. This is the advantage of being a foreigner – you can forgiven for having a small vocabulary!
“I never shied away from these things. When you are outspoken, not everyone finds it easy to deal with but some appreciate the clarity. I am quite outspoken and it’s my strength but it doesn’t always taste sweet.”
Charles van Commenee (Mark Shearman)
Van Commenee was accused of calling Jessica Ennis-Hill, one of the London 2012 gold medallists, “fat”. But the Dutchman, who is now aged 63 and moving into semi-retirement, strongly denies ever saying it.
“It (“fatgate”) was destructive and didn’t help anything,” he says. “Obviously, Jessica Ennis was never fat either. It’s so obvious that I shouldn’t even have to say that. I had a tense relationship with Toni (Minichiello, her coach) but I always had a very healthy and professional relationship with Jessica Ennis.”
Van Commenee also denies a theory that floated around at the time that he was leading the search for potential medal winners who lived outside the UK but who, like Zola Budd two decades earlier, could feasibly compete for Britain. The athletes were dubbed ‘plastic Brits’ in the media and, looking back, Van Commenee says: “Everyone with a British passport making a qualifying mark and performing well at the trials has qualified. It’s a very transparent qualifying procedure.
“If people have the impression that I go around the globe with a microscope trying to find people with a British passport, then I have to disappoint them. It’s not the case. But if I…
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