Description
Athlete's Coach Not Liable For Personal Injuries Which On Balance Of Probabilities Had Been Sustained Prior To Relevant Time Alleged:Owen J dismissed the Claimant athlete's claim for damages for personal injuries and loss in respect of vertebral stress fractures alleged to have been sustained during high altitude training whilst the Defendant was engaged as the Claimant's athletic coach. On the evidence and on a balance of probabilities, the stress fractures had been sustained prior to such high altitude training. The experts were agreed that such stress fractures would have been marked by the onset of acute bad pain and despite the Claimant consulting various practitioners around the material time, no complaint of such back pain had been made and nor was there any change in the level of intensity of the training at this time such as to explain the development of the stress fractures. Finally, the fact that the Claimant competed at the level he did in the following year made it unlikely that he had sustained the stress fractures at the time alleged.
