High jump coach banned for mocking para-athlete and ‘industrial language’

A top British Olympic high jump coach has been banned for three years for misconduct after accepting that he mocked a para-athlete as “Limp-foot Christie”, described a team doctor as a “fuckwit” and repeatedly used industrial language towards his athletes.

Fayaaz “Fuzz” Caan, who guided Robbie Grabarz to a silver medal at the London 2012 Games, also accepted a charge that he told his athletes “a story about a former high jumper who was caught having sex in a lift when the door opened”. However he denied that it was inappropriate.

Caan, who was also a part-time actor with parts in Coronation Street, Doctors and Spooks, was due to appear at a disciplinary hearing on Thursday following his suspension on the eve of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

However on Wednesday afternoon UK Athletics confirmed that all parties had accepted Caan would receive a backdated three-year sanction against him from 30 June 2021 to 29 June 2024.

The news came after Caan accepted a number of charges against him, including that he had made fun of disabled people by doing an impression where he walked with a limp, held his arm bent and made noises whilst sticking his tongue out. He also agreed that he had called a para athlete “bad foot gay” and “fat and slow”.

Caan also acknowledged that he used phrases such as “I cannot believe what he is fucking doing” and “I have driven all this fucking way to be here for this fucking idiot” in a loud voice in front of a number of other people, including parents, other athletes and spectators.

On another occasion he told a different athlete: “I don’t give a shit that you are crying I couldn’t care” and “your run up is shit why are you doing it like that.”

In an agreed decision released by UK Athletics, Caan