Bitter War Over Olympic Heroes

The Age

Friday August 22, 2008

Jacquelin Magnay, Beijing

ONCE the races have been run, the really nasty competition starts: the battle between television networks to cash in on Olympic success.

Australian Olympic athletes have been paid five-figure sums not to appear on a Channel Nine's 60 Minutes special that was filmed yesterday in Beijing.

Hurdling silver medallist Sally McLellan and triathlon gold medallist Emma Snowsill were each convinced not to appear by being paid about $10,000 in exclusive interview deals by Channel Seven, the Beijing Olympic broadcaster.

But the competitor who has earned the big dollars is swimming sensation Stephanie Rice, who has agreed to a two-year deal of about $800,000 with Seven.

"This is unprecedented, the level of desperation, the underhandedness and ugliness that went on," a source said.

Rice, who won three gold medals in the pool, agreed to the offer from Seven only yesterday morning and was a late withdrawal from the Nine special filmed in the afternoon. She is now set to become one of Seven's major identities.

McLellan's manager Robert Joske confirmed he had arranged a short-term deal with Seven for an exclusive interview, but declined to confirm the figure.

"The Channel Seven deal involved the word exclusive, so when Channel Nine approached I said my apologies," Joske said.

Some rowers were also late withdrawals from the Channel Nine show, which featured Olympic medallists talking about their China experience in a historic Beijing building.

Behind the scenes there were tense discussions between the two networks and the Australian Olympic Committee about access to the athletes.

Seven boss Kerry Stokes was upset that his $100 million investment was being undermined by Nine, which has the rights to the London Olympics in 2012.

Channel Nine convinced the athletes that because they were being filmed outside of an Olympic venue, they were not bound by any restrictions.

The athletes said they weren't paid to participate in the 60 Minutes show, but some of them, such as Libby Trickett, have existing deals with Nine.

It is understood Channel Seven applied pressure on the swimming team not to participate, although most did.

Seven is filming its own athletes' forum this morning.

© 2008 The Age

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