Four years ago, star boat helmsman Peter O'Leary took part in the Olympic Games for the first time off Qingdao in China. Back then, the still inexperienced sailor did not reach the medal final of the top ten sailors. As a joke, he placed bets on the victory of Great Britain's star boat ace Iain Percy - and won several thousand euros. The story seemed to have been put to bed long before it came to a head at O'Leary's second Olympic event.
IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau confirmed to the news agency dpa that "the Ethics Commission is investigating the allegations that recently came to light". In such a case, an athlete can defend himself before the Disciplinary Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In the most drastic case, he would be threatened with exclusion from the Olympics.
For Peter O'Leary, the discussions and the accompanying media onslaught have come at an inopportune time. The likeable Irishman is fighting for a medal off Weymouth, is in fifth place after four races and has already shone with a second and a fifth place.
O'Leary's German coach Marc Pickel from Kiel, seventh at the 2008 Olympic Games, stands in front of his athletes in Weymouth: "I want to protect the boys. The hype here is huge and naturally affects the team." An Irish journalist even climbed over the barrier to follow the team in the boat park.
Is an elephant being made out of a molehill here, a fun bet an Olympic offence? Marc Pickel says: "Peter was young four years ago and perhaps a little naive with his bet. But firstly, he wasn't in the medal final at the time, so he couldn't have influenced the result. And secondly, the existing regulations in their current form did not exist four years ago. We hope that the case can now be clarified and closed very quickly."
It is interesting to ask who only told the International Olympic Committee about Peter O'Leary's bet four years after the incident, just in time for the start of the next Olympic Games. There is no official information on this from the IOC - see quote above. But it smells a bit like a foul by an opponent or beaten rival in the Irish national Olympic qualifiers.
