Photo copyright Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
George Fox (not that George…) won the 2024 National Road Bike Time Trial Championship in April. However, a complaint was filed against the result. I worked with George to recently win a Cycling Time Trials (CTT) Disciplinary Hearing (https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/therell-be-no-celebrations-says-new-road-bike-champ-after-disciplinary-hearing-upholds-his-ride).
Self-regulated sports tribunals / hearings are effectively made-up courts – we see that with F1 Stewards hearings – and so it was great to transfer knowledge of F1 protests and appeals to cycling.
❓Learnings for sports tribunals
👩👩👧👧 Know your audience – Often there are no lawyers in the room. It’s critical to understand who will be conducting the hearing, what they already know, and what you need to teach them. Short, sharp and very carefully organised.
📜 Know the regulations – By the CTT’s own admission, the CTT Regulations are loosely drafted, so we did a lot of work to find the (many) gaps.
🗂️ Prep is everything – These hearings don't tend to operate to "real court" standards (eg beyond reasonable doubt). Therefore, it’s impossible to know for certain if you’re going to win so preparation is key. More preparation equals better chance of success.
🧠 Mental resilience – The court may be made-up, but the emotional impact is real. George worked incredibly hard for his race in April and yet had to go through 7 weeks of discussions with me(!), hard work and very public slandering to secure his win. Sports regulators need to do more to protect athletes going through these processes (see also Lizzy Banks and UKAD).
(P.S. Picture of George R is not just for tongue-in-cheek purposes but also to say congrats to my ex-colleagues who all work incredibly hard for these moments. Enjoy the champagne / orange juice today!)