An Australian Olympic sprinter has been banned from coaching athletics for four years after a tribunal found he had sexually harassed female athletes, including commenting on their racing attire telling one “Jesus Christ [redacted], what are you doing to me wearing those shorts”.
Mark Ladbrook, 54, represented Australia at the 1996 Atlanta Games in the 400m and 4x400m relay before becoming a coach of athletes competing at Olympic Games and World Championships. Ladbrook has also coached at the Victorian Institute of Sport, Rugby Australia, the Gold Coast Suns AFL team, and high schools in Melbourne and Queensland including Melbourne Grammar, Trinity Grammar and Somerset College.
His coaching accreditation was permanently revoked by Australian Athletics in 2025, and he appealed the decision to the National Sport Tribunal. In a judgment made public this week, the tribunal substantiated three of the five complaints against Ladbrook and found two to be partially substantiated, issuing him a four-year ban and requiring him to undergo further training.
In a statement to this masthead, Ladbrook wrote, “I am deeply disappointed by both the findings and the process that led to them. After more than ten months of proceedings, I do not believe the outcome reflects a fair, balanced, or evidence-based assessment of the facts. Throughout the hearing, critical context, witness statements, and character references were disregarded, while contested allegations were accepted with insufficient scrutiny.
