London 2012 Olympics: Australian weightlifter Daniel Koum 'held federation to ransom' over pre-Games event So I personally thought, well, the best way to negate any negatives out of all this would be to, by offering, sort of, some money, whereby he could actually compete and have some incentive to do the total that we asked of him. But then later on, it changed from an agreement to actual demand and he said that he would not lift unless he got $5,000, before he started the warm up for his own event. And then it was pretty frantic - we had to find that money. And say, within about 30 minutes we handed over the $5,000. Koum moved to Australia to compete at the 2006 Commonwealth Games for Cameroon before becoming a citizen and competing for his adopted country at the 2010 Commonwealths in Delhi. And Koum's team-mate Damon Kelly, who won the gold in the Commonwealth Games in the 105kg+ category told the Brisbane Times: "I actually felt physically sick in the gut. It was a complete shock that somebody [apparently] wanted to do that. I've never heard of it before in weightlifting, at all. Everyone that was there was completed stunned. It was a double take when we heard the news. We had to hear the news a couple of times before it sunk in. It's amazing to think someone could put their own personal interests before the team. The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said it had spoken to the AWF and was launching an investigation into the incident. "The AOC is working with the Australian Weightlifting Federation (AWF) to investigate the matter," read a statement. The AOC investigation will be ongoing. Koum could conceivably yet represent Australia at the London Games when the AWF nominates its single male entry to the AOC this weekend. Keelan said he had no regrets about offering the incentive but added: " (I felt) sick in the guts. I was under duress. We had to make a call very, very quickly. And, you know, the call was that we would submit to his demand.