British Cycling has accused Jess Varnish of misleading the Manchester Employment Tribunal in her attempts to show she was under "extreme forms of control" during her time with the Olympic cycling squad.
In a tense morning under cross-examination, Varnish and the governing body's barrister Thomas Linden QC repeatedly clashed over details in her written witness statement, with Employment Judge Ross having to tell Linden to let Varnish finish her answers.
Varnish needs to persuade the tribunal she was employed by British Cycling and the elite funding agency UK Sport during her time on the squad before she can sue the national governing body for wrongful dismissal in 2016.
The 28-year-old claims she was dropped from the Olympic programme as retaliation for criticising her coaches after she narrowly failed to qualify for the Rio Games. She has also accused her coaches of bullying athletes and claimed that British Cycling's then-technical director Shane Sutton told her "to go and have a baby".
An internal investigation later found Sutton, who had already quit his post, guilty of using discriminatory language but not of bullying, only for a subsequent independent investigation to accuse Sutton and others of creating a "culture of fear" at the National Cycling Centre.
In her witness statement, the former European team sprint champion outlines her time with the Olympic programme since joining it at 15 in 2005 and her unceremonious exit in 2016.
She lists numerous examples of "the control" British Cycling had over the riders in the programme from what they wore, to where they lived, to what sponsorship deals they could make, what they ate and even what they posted on social media.
But Linden challenged these statements again and again, saying her annual funding agreements did not change between 2005 and 2016, she should have known they came with terms and conditions and it would have been "more fair and truthful" to reveal she has her own company to reduce the taxes she must pay on her sponsorship earnings.
The case continues on Tuesday afternoon with Phillips and Harper set to give evidence, while Dr Richard Freeman is expected on Wednesday. The tribunal will hear from the witnesses for British Cycling and UK Sport during the rest of Wednesday and Thursday.