Malcolm axed as turmoil continues at under-fire UKA
CHRISTIAN MALCOLM has been sacked as head coach of UK Athletics amid further turmoil at the under-fire governing body.
The former sprinter will remain in his post through the congested summer of three major championships, but will then leave following a difficult tenure.
Sportsmail understands Stephen Maguire, who was controversially overlooked in favour of Malcolm in September 2020, is favourite to step into a new technical director role.
Malcolm (below) was handed the unenviable task of stabilising a British team low on star quality during the pandemic, but having failed to deliver a gold in an underwhelming Olympics for GB’s track and field athletes who won just five medals, he faced personal criticisms of his management. That came to a head in an infamous meeting in Zurich last autumn between leading British athletes and World Athletics president lord Coe.
In a statement yesterday Malcolm said: ‘ I am very disappointed to hear about the news but understand the rationale around this decision.
‘My priority is to continue working in the same way, maintaining professionalism and doing my job throughout the summer. I am fully focused on supporting our athletes and coaches during this extremely busy summer for our sport.
‘We have some incredibly talented athletes, some of whom have ambitious aims to compete across three major championships this summer. I’m looking forward to seeing them compete and supporting those individuals towards the World and European Championships, as well as representing their home nations during the Commonwealth Games.’
Malcolm was described by one GB athlete as ‘a good guy’ but ‘wasn’t amazing at organisational elements’. His successor is expected to be finalised before next month’s World Championships. As part of the restructure behind the change, UKA say there will be increased financial investment in personal coaches of athletes — a move in line with the requests of a number of their leading performers.
Mark Munro, interim CEO for UKA said: ‘ We are extremely grateful to Christian for his time and efforts as well as his commitment and professionalism.
‘ Taking on a role during a pandemic and the associated challenges that brings — alongside staffing and structure changes — has been incredibly challenging.
‘He has worked hard to steady the ship and continued to be professional throughout.
‘ Unfortunately given all the changes we need to make and the greater prioritisation for investment into personal coaches, the Olympic head coach role does not sit within the revised structures.
‘ However, we have made a commitment to work with Christian over the summer with the potential for exploring other roles within the structure to enable us to maintain his involvement with UKA.’