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Welsh coaches ready to help Team GB perform in Tokyo
12/07/2021 00:00, In Blog / Track & Field /
As the British Athletics team enter their final phase of preparation for Tokyo 2020, the coaching team overseeing and supporting the athletes will be dominated by an experienced contingent of Welsh Coaches who fill six of the 12 lead coaching roles.
Head Coach & Welsh sprint legend, Christian Malcolm, will lead the team and commented:
“Taking a team to an Olympics is a major undertaking, the demands on the coaching team in Tokyo will be totally unique, but we need to do all we can to ensure the athletes perform at their highest level. I hope in the years to come we will see more and more coaches from the Home Countries being part of GB teams.
Welsh Athletics Head Coach, Chris Jones, is currently on secondment with British Athletics and will lead the coaching team helping the endurance athletes, along with Melissa Courtney’s coach Rob Denmark, and fellow Welsh endurance coach James Thie, who’ll be paying particular attention to the progress of his former athlete Jake Heyward in the 1500m.
“It’s exciting times for endurance running in Wales and across all the home countries, and I’m very excited and pleased to be able to accompany such a talented group of athletes out to Tokyo. It’s been a very challenging and unusual lead into the games, but I’m confident that the whole team, athletes, coaches and support staff will do everything they can to deliver their best come the games.”
Chris Jones, National Coach
Former National Coach and Welsh pole vaulter, Scott Simpson, is part of the team working with the jumps athletes. British throwers will benefit from the many years of experience of Shaun Pickering, a member of the Welsh Athletics Hall of Fame, and still holder of the Welsh record in the Shot Put. And the sprint and relay squads, including athlete Joe Brier, will be under the supervision of former Welsh 400m runner, Tim Benjamin.
Welsh Athletics is committed to a range of coach development programmes including an Athlete to Coach pathway and Female Coaching initiative, as part of our long term strategy and within our Unite goal, we are aspiring to:
- Develop excellence – a focus on long term athlete and coach development
For more information about becoming an athletics coach - click here - who knows you may end up heading to an Olympics too!