Sally Robbins
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Sally Robbins (born July 15, 1981) is an Australian rower, who was a member of Australia's 2004 Summer Olympics Women's Eight Rowing crew.
In the final the team were well-placed for Bronze when 500 meters from the finish, she appeared to collapse and laid back on teammate Julia Wilson's lap. Robbins was publicly humiliated in the Australian media as "Lay-down Sally" and called "un-Australian". The Daily Telegraph said: "In a team sport such as rowing what she did was unforgivable. It appears Robbins committed the greatest crime there is in honest sport: she quit." Most Australians were outraged that, whilst given the nations highest honour in representing the country, she quit.
Trying to calm tensions, Australian Prime Minister John Howard became involved in the row, saying: "I'm not taking sides, but it's always regrettable and it's tough and there's a lot of pressure."
Comedian Wil Anderson later developed a routine about Robbins, arguing that her performance was perhaps the most Australian of the Olympics, commenting how Australian it is to get halfway through something and then say "Fuck it, that'll do."
In March 2006, Robbins publicly expressed a desire to row for Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics. [1]
