Elliott quits Cycling NZ
Cycling New Zealand high performance director Mark Elliott says the time is right for him to step aside, having led the programme through three Olympic campaigns, including August’s disappointing one in Rio.
He announced his resignation on Monday, having arrived at the decision following a review of the Rio campaign, then waiting until it was completed and submitted to High Performance Sport New Zealand before stepping down.
The New Zealand team entered the games with high hopes, having won four medals at the 2015 world championships and two at the 2016 event, but in Rio the only success was a silver medal for the men’s sprint team.
‘‘I think any programme, whether you have success or failure, there’s always a tendency to look hard at yourself and the opportunities going forward and we’ve got that now for the programme and I’ve done that myself, and now’s the right time to step aside,’’ said Elliott.
One area that had been identified as contributing to the poor return in Rio was a lack of experience in the Olympic environment, he said.
‘‘We’ve won more in the last three years than we have in the history of the sport, to be fair, but I think when you come to the Olympics, that’s another step up, and we went into the Olympics with a young team, and I think when you look at that Olympic environment, it is about making sure that everyone’s really prepared to step up to that next level.
‘‘That’s probably going to be one of the findings, is how do we create that experience and understanding of the pressure of that environment with young athletes, and I guess that’s the exciting thing for the programme to know now, is that’s what we’ve got to do, and we’ve actually got a lot of young riders who have that Olympic experience and understand what it’s all about.’’
In Rio, Elliott came under fire for comments he made regarding the performance of Dylan Kennett in the six-discipline omnium’s elimination race, where an early exit looked to have dented the young rider’s medal hopes.
‘‘Dylan’s got to learn how to be a champion and it’s not by giving up,’’ Elliott told Radio Sport.
‘‘I think we’ve just seen someone who hasn’t been able to focus for the elimination and do what he is really capable [of].’’
Kennett had been thrown off after being erroneously placed 10th instead of fifth in the omnium’s opening scratch race - a decision that was later overturned - but rebounded on the second day of the event to challenge for a medal before eventually finishing eighth overall.
Following the Olympic Games his father, Craig Kennett, described Elliott’s comments as a personal attack.
Elliott said he had no regrets about his comments and that the incident had played no part in his decision to step aside.
‘‘They’re comments that were made purely based on the fact that it’s a challenging environment and that you have to step up to another level, and that’s what we’re expecting from all our athletes, and I have nothing more to say on that.’’
Elliott started in the high performance role in 2007, and since then New Zealand has won 31 track world championship medals, 56 junior track world championships, and six Olympic medals.
He said had given the programme ‘‘everything’’ during his time in charge.
‘‘It’s been an amazing journey. I think any sporting environment or context, when you go through a couple of cycles … I think once you’ve done a couple of those cycles a programme does need to evolve and change.
‘‘We’ve made a lovely smooth transition into this environment here in Cambridge and I think the time is right now for someone else to take the programme to the next level. It’s just a privilege to have been here for this phase of time and to leave the programme in a better place than where it was.’’
Cycling NZ chief executive Andrew Matheson said in a statement that Elliott had established a world-class high performance programme ‘‘virtually singlehanded’’.
‘‘He has a unique knowledge of high performance sport as a former athlete, coach, medical professional and administrator.
‘‘I am sure he will be an asset wherever he turns in the future, and hope he is not lost to sport in this country.
‘‘We understand his decision and we will dedicate ourselves as an organisation to learning from Rio and taking the opportunity to relook at our structure and direction in high performance to convert rainbow jerseys into medals in Tokyo.’’
Matheson is likely to step into the high performance role until the Rio debrief is completed, with a replacement likely to be appointed early next year.