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 collapsed and laid back on teammate Julia Wilson's lap. Robbins was publicly humilated 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.".

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."

In March 2006, she publicly expressed a desire to row for Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics. [1]