Former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh and swimming legend Kieren Perkins, both liaison officers with their country's Olympic delegation, clashed over the controversial use of sledging Saturday.
Waugh, who once referred to sledging as ‘mental disintegration’, insisted that there was a role for the tactic, whereby an opponent is subject to a constant barrage of insults aimed at undermining his confidence.
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“There is always a role for sledging,” Waugh said on Saturday. However, Perkins, the 1992 and 1996 Olympic gold medallist in the 1500m, said that the ploy was a sign of weakness on the part of the sledgers.