WA pole vault coach Paul Burgess blows whistle on alleged WAIS Alex Parnov scandal

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

WA pole vault coach Paul Burgess blows whistle on alleged WAIS Alex Parnov scandal

Former WA Institute of Sport head pole vault coach Paul Burgess has been revealed to have blown the whistle on allegations against former coach Alex Parnov.

WA Police are examining claims ex-Olympian coach Mr Parnov had preyed on a number of young female athletes — including gold medallist Nina Kennedy — after WAIS confirmed it had conducted an independent review into the matter on Saturday.

Three-time Olympian Mr Burgess was coached by Mr Parnov from 1998 and had suspicions early on Mr Parnov was allegedly acting inappropriately towards some athletes, according to The ***********.

Mr Burgess was forced to resign as WAIS head pole vault coach in April, 2024 after a series of complaints.

According to a report in The ***********, in 2016 Mr Burgess saw a video of Parnov allegedly touching then-18-year-old Kennedy down down her back and bottom that caused him to sound the alarm to WAIS human resources manager Sharon Foster.

Mr Burgess told The *********** that Ms Foster had raised the complaint with WAIS chief executive Steve Lawrence who had reportedly decided not to go through “formal channels” for the incident and instead give Mr Parnov a “strong, unofficial warning”.

In 2009, Mr Burgess had raised another complaint with Mr Lawrence about Mr Parnov taking 15 per cent of his bonuses, prize money and sponsorship deals while other athletes had experienced a similar issue.

Mr Burgess said Mr Lawrence replied by telling him simply not to pay Mr Parnov.

In 2019, Mr Parnov was eventually fired after an MDC Legal investigation was prompted by Ms Kennedy and Mr Burgess making another complaint, however, the reasons for his dismissal were not made public.

Mr Burgess said he was told by Mr Lawrence the private move was to protect Mr Parnov’s daughter.

He told The *********** he demanded WAIS release the information before Mr Parnov could coach other young women at a new job.

The coach said he felt he was being pushed out of the institute as he was denied a pay rise in his 2023 review by Mr Lawrence. Eventually, Mr Burgess filed a complaint about Mr Lawrence’s management of the incidents and the MDC Legal investigation.

WAIS began the complaint process and hired MDC Legal to assist, once again. The probe resulted in the questioning of Ms Kennedy and Mr Burgess’ credibility.

Sport Minister David Templeman is set to receive a detailed briefing from WAIS into the investigation as Premier Roger Cook called the allegations “very disturbing and troubling”.

******* Assault Resource Centre 1800 199 888

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#pole #vault #coach #Paul #Burgess #blows #whistle #alleged #WAIS #Alex #Parnov #scandal

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

For verified travel tips and real support, visit: https://hopzone.eu/