Former Olympian and boxing coach Jamie Pittman has withdrawn from attending this year's Paris Games and stood down from the Australian Olympic Committee's Indigenous Advisory Committee after being found to have committed acts of sexual misconduct with fighters, including females.
According to reports, Pittman, Boxing Australia's National Futures coach will not attend in Paris after a National Sports Tribunal (NST) government body investigation into alleged "lewd, disgusting and offensive" behaviour.
Pittman, who represented Australia at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and was a world title challenger during his professional career, has stood down after being issued a breach notice by the Combat Institute of Australia (CombatAUS).
At a hearing three weeks ago, NST heard evidence against Pittman alleging the 42-year-old was involved in 11 misconduct incidents during three overseas trips with Australian boxing teams between July and October last year, as reported by the Herald Sun.
Some of the coach's actions were described as "shocking, gross and inappropriate".
Pittman is alleged to have made a list of sexual comments about women in the Italian boxing team whilst at a camp, in a separate incident told an athlete "You need to f*** more women to become more of a man", and another where he performed "a 'lap dance' ... or otherwise moved your hips and buttocks suggestively in thrusting sequences" while a different athlete was using a stationary machine before saying words to the effect of 'Sexual activity improves performance', among the list of allegations, via the Herald Sun.
NST reportedly called for Pittman to be suspended from all CombatAUS activities for six months from November 9, 2023.
It was also ruled the coach is reprimanded, undergo counselling and issue written apologies to victims, and has been ordered to complete approved anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, anti-bullying and anti-sexual misconduct courses over a 60-day period.
It's understood Pittman has not lost his job but has chosen to step away from Olympics in an effort to avoid exacerbating any worries from Australia's boxing team competing.
According to the Herald Sun, Pittman said he withdrew his application in January with intent to focus on his role as National Futures Coach, and said "It's all in there for you to read" when asked if he disputed any of the findings against him.
"I don't have any further comment. You will have to read through the report," he said.
Herald Sun reported a submission from Pittman's legal team read in part: "Whilst he accepts the findings, Mr Pittman contends that he was not consciously engaging in the alleged conduct and was not aware of his alleged actions or of how they would be perceived by others".
"He acknowledges that certain comments he made were inappropriate and unintended to cause offence to some members of the team."
An Australian Olympic Committee spokesperson said the body "has noted the judgement by the National Sports Tribunal, including the sanctions handed down".
"Mr Pittman has voluntarily stood down from the Australian Olympic Committee's Indigenous Advisory Committee for the immediate future," the spokesperson said.
