A high-performance gymnastics coach has withdrawn from the Australian Olympic team the day before he was due to fly to Paris after allegations of inappropriate behaviour made by a former colleague came to light.
The Australian Olympic Committee has confirmed Jeb Silsbury, who was set to travel to Paris today, withdrew as a team coach on Thursday, after the ABC raised the allegations with the body.
Included in the claims are that Mr Silsbury made comments about his colleague’s breasts and “slapped” her bottom.
Questions have been raised as to whether Mr Silsbury should have been selected until allegations could be fully probed.
A spokesman for the Australian Olympic Committee on Thursday said the organisation had deselected Mr Silsbury after he withdrew as a coach.
“The AOC was not aware of any integrity matters in relation to Mr Silsbury’s nomination for the Australian Olympic Team when considering his suitability for selection,” the spokesman said.
“Further, all members of the Australian Olympic Team are required to make such declarations when signing the AOC Team Membership Agreement.
“The AOC is committed to safeguarding all team members and have requirements in place to support those that are under 18.”
Mr Silsbury declined the ABC’s request for comment.
The saga has also raised questions about Gymnastics Australia’s (GA) coach selection processes for the Paris Games, which are due to begin later this month.
GA did not respond directly to questions about its selection policies or whether it was aware of the allegations against Mr Silsbury.
“All our members and participants have an obligation to protect and maintain the integrity of sport, as well as the health and wellbeing of our athletes,” a spokeswoman said.
“Complaints raised with Gymnastics Australia are investigated through our integrity unit.”
Mr Silsbury, who currently works at the Cheltenham Youth Club in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, is the personal coach to an Olympic debutante.
Letter to Gymnastics Australia detailed allegations leading up to sacking
The ABC understands that in 2021, Mr Silsbury was terminated from the Waverley Gymnastics Centre in Melbourne’s south-east, where he worked before moving to the Cheltenham club.
A letter was later sent to the sport’s peak body in July 2022, which made allegations about Mr Silsbury leading up to his termination.
The letter, written by a former coaching colleague, prompted the then-chief executive, who has since left the organisation, to meet with the complainant.
“I remember when he’d not long started at Waverley, he, like, slapped me on the bum a couple of times in the gym, that was early on … around 2013,” the former colleague alleged to the ABC.
The woman, who does not want to be named because she is still coaching high-performance gymnastics, said she saw inappropriate behaviour several times throughout Mr Silsbury’s employment at the Waverley centre.
She said that their relationship, which was solely professional, ultimately became toxic.
“I was constantly bullied … and intimidated [and] put down in front of the athletes. I certainly was made to feel like I was the inferior of the partnership, and he’s the alpha,” she said.
“He would even use the word alpha outwardly in front of athletes, in front of parents, in front of other coaches.”
She said Mr Silsbury used to refer to her as a “bottom bitch”, which he explained as a “pimp’s top girl” and regularly called her a “minion”.
In March 2020, Mr Silsbury allegedly made sexual comments to the woman while they were at the International Gymnix Competition held in Montreal.
“He referred to my breast area as droopies,” she said.
“I just fobbed it off as a joke because I just wanted to put across that we have a very professional relationship, but inside, it was very embarrassing to have someone talk about my breast area in front of somebody else.
“On one of the other days before, on the comp floor, he said I filled out my top really well,” she said.
The former coaching colleague said that on another occasion in February 2021, she witnessed Mr Silsbury calling a gymnast “anorexic” and a “moo cow”.
She said that when she confronted him about the comments, he became furious.
“I pulled him up on that and said, you cannot use that word, that is so bad, you cannot say that,” she said.
“He got really aggressive and said, ‘well, off you go then … go and tell management, go and do whatever you have to do’.”
At-home training sessions breached COVID-19 rules
The woman said the comments about the gymnast drove her to make multiple complaints to the Waverley Gymnastics Centre, which sparked an internal investigation a short time later.
The ABC understands the Waverley Gymnastics Centre placed Mr Silsbury on leave while the probe was conducted.
He was ultimately terminated after multiple complaints by the woman were found to be substantiated by the centre.
The investigation also found Mr Silsbury had trained one of his athletes at her home in breach of Victorian COVID-19 restrictions.
The ABC understands training an athlete at their home was a significant breach of the club’s coaching code of conduct, even with parental permission.
Mr Silsbury eventually moved to the Cheltenham Youth Club.
The ABC understands that the termination contained confidentiality clauses which means Waverley Gymnastics Centre cannot talk about the allegations.
One gymnastics insider, who did not want to be named for fear of repercussions, said confidentiality clauses bound decision-makers, colleagues and clubs from airing even substantiated findings of inappropriate behaviour.
“It’s problematic for future employers because if they were doing character checks or reference checks, the people who are being contacted for reference checks can’t actually disclose [that allegations have been made],” they said.
“Clubs are desperate and they will turn a blind eye to things if they can get a high-calibre gymnast and a coach with a lot of experience.”
Questions raised over coach selection process
According to Gymnastics Australia’s selection policy, which is available on its website, coaches can be selected for national teams if they are not currently serving a sanction or under investigation for breaching any policy within the sport’s national integrity framework.
Speaking more generally about systemic problems with complaints handling within the sport, Phoebe Pownall, the former National Child Safe Manager for Gymnastics Australia, said the policy appeared to have a loophole.
“I have questions around how useful that policy is if someone has faced previous sanctions, because that very much reads to me as they can only be withheld from the national team if they’re currently being investigated or currently serving sanctions,” Ms Pownall said.
“It’s an honesty system to a certain extent. You can still test that through reference checks.
“We know that not all behaviour is black and white, there’s a lot of behaviour that sits in that grey area.”
Gymnastics Australia accused of ‘failing in duty of care’
One Australian gymnastics judge, who did not want to be named because they are still working in the sport, said Gymnastics Australia’s decision to select Mr Silsbury was problematic given there were allegations against him that should be explored.
“They’re claiming they’re a sport with integrity and yet they’re allowing this person to continue working within our sport,” they said.
“They’re failing in their duty of care to the athletes and they’re failing in their duty of care to those who have reported against him.”
The judge said Mr Silsbury’s selection for the Olympic team was “fundamentally wrong” and that he should not be allowed to travel with teams until allegations were fully probed.
“To not only allow someone to continue coaching, but also to continue to select them on national teams when they’ve had … allegations raised against them is not protecting the athletes in our sport,” they said.
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