‘Lay Down Sally’: Where is Sally Robbins, the Olympic rower who angered Australia when she quit rowing during the 2004 Athens final – as she sends a message ahead of the Paris Games this month
- Sally Robbins retired from rowing in the final of the women’s eight at the 2004 Olympic Games
- At the time she was called ‘Lay Down Sally’ after she abandoned her teammates
- Now, 20 years later, Robbins has made two striking statements
She is the athlete who angered Australia, who was called ‘Lay Down Sally’ by the angry crowd when she retired from rowing during the 2004 Olympic rowing final.
And now, twenty years later, Sally Robbins has declared on social media that she is finally “at peace with her past” after becoming a household name for all the wrong reasons.
Robbins, now 42, became an overnight sporting villain when she retired from rowing in the women’s round of 16 finals at the Athens Olympics, leaving Australia without a medal chance.
Robbins claimed at the time that she stopped rowing due to exhaustion 600 meters from the finish.
“Suddenly I got tired and couldn’t move,” she said. “It’s a paralyzed feeling, like hitting a wall.”
Many of her teammates were furious, as the Aussies were widely considered gold medal contenders, but ultimately finished far below due to her slump.
Kyeema Doyle was furious. After the race she told reporters bluntly: “I’m going back to single scull for now,” as the magnitude of Robbins’s actions began to sink in.
“After these Olympics I was looking forward to a vacation,” Doyle added later, while evading whether she would be willing to row with Robbins again.
Sally Robbins was criticized as ‘Lay Down Sally’ when she retired from rowing during the women’s eight final at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens
Robbins (pictured, right, at the 2004 Athens Olympics) has now declared on social media that she is at peace with her infamous sporting past
“I have a bitter taste in my mouth.”
But twenty years later, it appears that Robbins himself has completely put the story behind him, as evidenced by two illuminating social media posts in the run-up to the Paris Olympics.
“I am at peace with my past and looking forward to my future,” Robbins posted on Instagram last month.
She also posted ‘Happy Olympic Day’ on June 23in which the Perth-based holistic health coach and yoga teacher further elaborated on her past as an Olympian.
The message to Australian athletes ended with: ‘once an Olympian, always an Olympian.’
“Getting this message on my phone every year always brings tears to my eyes,” Robbins wrote.
“I am so proud to be an Olympian and I wish our next Olympians in Paris all the best.
We are all behind you and know how much hard work you have put in to get to this point.
Robbins (pictured, far right) at a press conference following the Athens scandal
The former female eight-rower is now a holistic health coach and yoga teacher in Perth (pictured in her studio)
Last month, Robbins declared on Instagram that she was “at peace with her past and excited about her future” (pictured)
Robbins also shared her reaction to a message she received as a former Olympian ahead of the Paris Games this month
‘I am extremely grateful for all the support I have received from far and wide.
“Let’s support our athletes this year… send them a message. They will receive it and it will make a big difference.”
Robbins, who now goes by Sally Cameron after taking her husband’s surname, previously ran a yoga studio just northeast of Brisbane’s city centre.
The couple also have a daughter, Aria.
After failing to qualify for rowing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Robbins switched sports and tried her luck in competitive cycling.
She competed in the National Women’s Road Series in Western Australia and for the Australian Institute of Sport as a domestique and time trialist before deciding to retire from competitive sport altogether.
The Olympic Games in Paris will take place from July 26 to August 11.
