Andy Sparks chats with his wife, Sarah Hammer, prior to the 2012 London Olympics. He has been let go by USA Cycling after a number of riders came forward with complains.
Former Cycling Ireland coach Andy Sparks has been fired by USA Cycling. Several riders in its track programme filed complaints against him.
The federation confirmed his dismissal in a statement.
"USA Cycling confirmed today that Andy Sparks was accused of actions that violated USA Cycling's SafeSport and employment policies," the statement said.
"The complaint was focused on a pattern of behavior over time amounting to a violation of our athlete protection policies concerning emotional abuse and bullying – not physical or sexual abuse.
"USA Cycling will not accept misconduct of any kind and as per our SafeSport policies a full independent investigation process was initiated as soon as the issue was raised to USA Cycling.
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"Based on our learnings from the investigation and subsequent discussions with Andy Sparks, USA Cycling has determined it is no longer in the best interest of USA Cycling for him to continue in our program.
"Because this case encompasses employment issues, USA Cycling will adhere to its longstanding policy of not providing any additional details or otherwise commenting on this confidential matter."
Sparks was involved in building the first major track high-performance squad for Cycling Ireland.
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In that set-up the aforementioned Irvine and Caroline Ryan flourished.
Irvine won Ireland’s first ever gold medal at the World Track Championships in Minsk in 2013 while a year earlier Ryan won bronze in Melbourne.
Sparks is the husband of well-known US track sensation Sarah Hammer.
In the past he has worked with the likes of David Muntaner and Albert Torres (Spain) and a host of other world and Olympic champions.
Andy Sparks denies wrongdoing
Speaking to cyclingnews he said "any person in charge of maintaining high standards isn't going to be a popular figure".
He denied he had acted in any way inappropriately and said the complaints came from riders who did not make the Olympic team.
"We're not training for a national championship. These are big goals, in an Olympic year there's going to be stress.
"Some riders complained about standards being too high and the environment being overly competitive...
"The easiest thing to do is call someone a bully, but that's a polarising, binary statement. To what degree? That's not a flattering thing to be called."
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