Jurgen Grobler, the divisive coach who oversaw a golden generation for British Rowing at the Olympics, was forced out after younger members of the squad were consulted about his methods 

• The time came last year to make a decision on Jurgen Grobler's contract 
• The squad were consulted, with the older athletes wanting the German to stay
• However, younger members of the squad wanted immediate regime change
• The 75-year-old has been accused of 'destroying the souls' of his athletes  

Jurgen Grobler — who oversaw Team GB's historic run of Olympic rowing success but has now been accused of 'destroying the souls' of athletes — left British Rowing after younger athletes were consulted on his coaching style.

British Rowing executive officers met last year when the original Tokyo Games were postponed.

The question they tackled as they debated whether these Games would ever take place was this: 'Do we make the regime change now at the start of the Paris Olympiad or do we stick with the proven winner for one more year?' 

Crucially, chief executive Andy Parkinson and director of rowing Brendan Purcell possess little knowledge of rowing. 

Parkinson is a sports administrator with deep experience in Paralympic sport and the anti-doping agencies. Purcell came over from the very successful British Triathlon team.

They consulted the squad athletes for their opinion and discovered a natural split in the responses.

The younger athletes who have Paris 2024 in their sights, along with some who were less likely to make the Olympic team this time, wanted immediate regime change.

Those older and more successful rowers, for whom Tokyo was the last hurrah, wanted Grobler's hand on their shoulder through to the podium.

It was certain that they would not find a replica of Grobler to carry on seamlessly, so they were bound to redesign the entire superstructure of training, coaching and team selection.

In the end, they appointed four coaches —Steve Trapmore, Paul Stannard, James Harris and Paul Reedy — with different responsibilities across the men's and women's team.

Grobler's system, developed and refined in East Germany and reapplied with few changes to Britain, made him the single point of failure.

If he collapsed, the system collapsed. When he left, British Rowing would be obliged to rethink all of its Olympic preparation, whether now or later. 

Grobler has always been a controversial, if hugely successful, figure. He began training as a coach in East Germany, where any deviation from the party line meant instant dismissal and often prison.

This regime included the use of artificial testosterone, through a drug called Oral Turinabol, to boost the training endurance of athletes.

As with everything under his control, he became an expert in its use.

Jana Sorgers, one of his most successful women scullers who became Olympic champion in 1988, said he was minutely sensitive to over-training and dropped the dope regime when it suited.

When she followed the same programme without the dope, she found the training much harder. Since the Berlin Wall came down and Grobler came to Britain, no one has ever had the slightest suspicion that any of his crews has been doped.

Grobler told The Mail on Sunday back in 1998: 'Some of the things that were going on at that time were not correct, but I can look everybody in the eye and not feel guilty.

'You must understand that thousands of people were contacted. I wanted to leave Germany because I wanted to prove I could succeed in a different system.'

Hugh Matheson is co-author of More Power: The Story of Jurgen Grobler.