{"id":408918,"date":"2019-12-28T17:23:46","date_gmt":"2019-12-29T00:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=408918"},"modified":"2019-12-28T17:31:07","modified_gmt":"2019-12-29T00:31:07","slug":"michelle-ford-deserves-to-be-a-triple-olympic-gold-medallist-says-bill-sweetenham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/michelle-ford-deserves-to-be-a-triple-olympic-gold-medallist-says-bill-sweetenham\/","title":{"rendered":"Michelle Ford deserves to be a triple Olympic gold medallist says Bill Sweetenham"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the eve of 40th<\/sup> anniversary year of the boycotted Moscow Olympics, legendary coach Bill Sweetenham<\/strong> believes Australia\u2019s Michelle Ford<\/strong> should stand as a triple Olympic gold medallist from 1980.<\/p>\n

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Olympic gold: Michelle Ford, 800m freestyle in Moscow. Photo Courtesy: ABC (Supplied)<\/p><\/div>\n

Ford won Australia\u2019s only individual gold medal in the pool when she crushed the East Germans in one of the sport\u2019s greatest performances in the 800m freestyle in a Games where the Australians were virtually smuggled out of the country under a cover of darkness. (The other Australian gold went to the Australian men\u2019s 4x100m medley relay of Mark Tonelli, Mark Kerry, Peter Evans <\/strong>and Neil Brooks<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Reigning world record holder and world champion in both the 400 and 800 metres freestyle Tracey Wickham<\/strong> chose to join the boycott along with team captain Mark Morgan<\/strong> \u2013 a decision Wickham admits she regrets to this day.<\/p>\n

Ford went on to win the Olympic gold \u2013 but also finished with a close up bronze medal behind two East Germans in the 200m butterfly and fourth in the 400m freestyle \u2013 also behind three East Germans.<\/p>\n

Sweetenham is currently writing his memoirs and will reveal all in a chapter on Ford and believes the IOC should move to right the wrongs of four decades ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichelle deserves to be a triple Olympic gold medallist \u2013 there is now no doubt about that – we all know now that the East Germans were involving in Systematic State doping,\u201d said Sweetenham.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery swimmer ahead of her in the 200m butterfly and 400m freestyle were from East Germany and Michelle had to race swimmers who we all suspected at the time were involved in doping and we now know that was the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichelle\u2019s performance to beat those girls in the 800m was nothing short of remarkable and should receive even greater recognition \u2013 and she has lived with the fact that everyone of those girls who beat her were doped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford herself has revealed how she felt, to respected ABC<\/em> journalist Tracey Holmes<\/strong> on The Ticket<\/em> Podcast, saying: “When we went to Moscow, and the boycott issue was ripe, the country was split \u2026 we had to sneak out of the country, we had other things on our mind than the East German girls.<\/p>\n

“However, I still ask myself today how I stood up there and won a medal against this doping machine that has now been proven, and I must say, at the time we didn’t know the extent to which that was happening.<\/p>\n

“That probably acted in my favour, psychologically, in that I could stand up on the blocks next to them.<\/p>\n

“But every day, I am just so satisfied that I won and showed people you can win against doping.”<\/p>\n

The Ticket also asked Ford whether she thought her own performances had been called into question privately, given they beat those who were widely thought to be doped.<\/p>\n

Ford said the idea of her doping was non-existent.<\/p>\n

“I was 18 at the time and Australia was so backward in sport,” she said.<\/p>\n

Sweetenham\u2019s call follows further revelations on The Ticket that saw both Ford and 1984 Los Angeles Olympic heptathlon gold medallist Glynis Nunn<\/strong> snubbed from the Sydney Olympic opening ceremony Torch Relay that featured an Olympic medallist for every Olympics from 1948 to 2000 \u2014 with the glaring omission of the boycotted games of Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984.<\/p>\n

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Flamed in glory. Cathy Freeman, Sydney 2000, Photo Courtesy: ABC (Supplied).<\/p><\/div>\n

The women in the torch relay featured:<\/strong><\/p>\n