Cycling New Zealand (CNZ) has announced that its CEO, Jacques Landry, has resigned. He will return to his native Canada at the end of the year. In my view, this must not be allowed to happen. Oh, he can resign all right. No problem there. But skipping the country. No, that must not be allowed.

Why? Because in my opinion Landry and others face the prospect of criminal charges in relation to the death of Olivia Podmore. I am not calling her death suicide any longer because in my view it was culpable homicide. Here are the events that, if correct, would form the case against those responsible in CNZ and Sport New Zealand.

1. Olivia had knowledge of a relationship between the National Cycling Coach and a female athlete.
2. CNZ demanded that she participate in a cover-up of the relationship.
3. Olivia was required to lie to protect CNZ.
4. There was an implied threat to Olivia’s financial and sporting life.
5. Olivia compromised her honesty and self-esteem and participated in the CNZ cover-up.
6. Sport New Zealand paid Olivia an additional $20,000 after the inquiry for “welfare reasons”. A cynic might ask – whose welfare?  
7. CNZ refused to select Olivia for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
8. Olivia was found dead at home on 9 August 2021.

That series of alleged events requires answers in a Court of Law by those responsible for Sport New Zealand and CNZ. Included among those is the current CEO, Jacques Landry.

Culpable homicide is described in the New Zealand Crimes Act 1961, Section 60. It “consists in the killing of any person by causing that person by threats or by deception, to do an act which causes his or her death.”

While the circumstances of Olivia’s death remain under investigation by the Coroner and the Special CNZ Panel, Landry should not be allowed to leave New Zealand. He became CEO of CNZ in 2018, one year after Olivia had been asked to lie in the CNZ cover-up. His organisation allowed her participation in the CNZ centralised training programme to be used to obtain her compliance with the cover-up. Was he the CEO of CNZ when Olivia was paid the $20,000? He was CEO of CNZ when she was not named on the Tokyo Olympic team. He was CEO when she died. In my view he was at least an accessory to these events.   

To my untrained eye the actions that led to Olivia’s death certainly look like culpable homicide. In simple terms the pressures she had to endure killed her just as surely as if someone had stood outside her home with a rifle. And Landry was the CEO shortly after or during it all. Landry should not skip the country without answering questions in a Court of Law about his actions. For example.

1. When did he have knowledge of a relationship between the National Cycling Coach and a female athlete? What did he know and when did he know it?
2. When was he aware that Olivia had been asked to participate in a cover-up of the relationship?
3. When was he aware that Olivia had been required to lie to protect CNZ?
4. Was he aware that there was an implied threat to Olivia’s financial and sporting life in the CNZ cover-up?
5. Was he aware that Olivia had compromised her honesty and self-esteem in order to participate in the CNZ cover-up?
6. Did he have any involvement in the Sport New Zealand “welfare” payment of $20,000 after the inquiry? Was this money Olivia’s payoff for her part in the CNZ cover-up scheme?   
7. What was his involvement in CNZ’s refusal to select Olivia for the Tokyo Olympic Games? What did he know and when did he know it?

I have no idea how to avoid Landry skipping the country. The circumstances described here demand that Landry be prevented from spending Christmas tucked up in Canada safe from his actions at CNZ being examined by New Zealand justice.

A particularly poignant saying about events like this is that bad people get away with bad things when good people do nothing. Do you think that might be what we have here? If we have, it is clearly up to someone to take a stand. If the extreme pressure Olivia was put under by CNZ and Sport New Zealand’s money made this a possible case of culpable homicide, then those responsible and/or associated with these events in any way, no matter how distant, should answer for their actions. Olivia Podmore deserves no less. I know this is true from my own experience with an NSO.