Stephen Maguire has been appointed to replace Christian Malcolm as the boss of Britain’s athletics team.
UK Athletics confirmed today that Maguire, overlooked in favour of Malcolm when the job of Olympic head coach came up in 2020, will take over from the former champion sprinter.
The governing body has disbanded the head coach role and instead appointed Maguire as Technical Director, but in essence it is a changing of the guard.
Mark Munro, interim CEO for UKA said: “We are pleased to be able to make this announcement today confirming this key position that is vital for the support of athletes and personal coaches.
“The appointment of the Technical Director role is one we are delighted with and feel gives us the best person to lead the programme towards Paris and Los Angeles.
“We were mindful of ensuring we could make progress as soon as this summer’s championships concluded, and it is a significant boost for the World Class Programme that we can confirm his appointment now ahead of a September start.
“Stephen brings great experience and an excellent track record within high performance athletics. It is another piece in the jigsaw as we continue to prioritise more effective support to athletes and coaches on the World Class Performance programme.”
Maguire is a quality operator highly respected by athletes, coaches and administrators alike. He was responsible for transforming the fortunes of Britain’s sprint relay teams.
Nonetheless there is no escaping the shoddy way in which Malcolm has been treated by the organisation over the past two years.
He was appointed by former chief executive Jo Coates without, it appears, anything like sufficient support. And now he is a dead man walking, occupying a lead position he knows is about to be taken away from him through a THREE championship summer.
It says a lot about the governing body in recent years and the way the sport has been allowed to drift and decline.
Fortunately Jack Buckner, the former 5,000 world medallist who becomes UK Athletics chief executive in July, is only too aware of the urgent need for reform.
