Staff, colleague and athletes across the UK have been saddened by the news of the passing of former Head of Field and Combined Events and renowned coach Peter Stanley last week.

Stanley, who retired from his role at UKA in 2020 had an illustrious career both as a coach and also a developer of coaching talent. In his own words the top three highlights of his coaching life were Jonathan Edwards breaking the world record twice in on day; Edwards winning the gold medal in Sydney, and his work with former UK Record holder Chris Tomlinson for much of his competitive career.

Following roles within UKA as a national coach mentor and also as the strategic lead for coaching, Stanley was appointed to the Head of Field and Combined Events in 2014. Based at the National Performance Institute at Loughborough, he supported many athlete and coach pairings towards winning medals.

In 2018, Stanley was awarded the UK Coaching Lifetime Achievement award. And in 2019 he received the prestigious Ron Pickering Memorial Award for Services to Athletics as part of the British Athletics Writers Awards in London.

Whilst his final year working for UKA saw the initial postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, he fulfilled an equally crucial role continuing to support athletes throughout the pandemic, ensuring they could access the best support possible throughout lockdown and into the brief remainder of the 2020 competitive season.

He will be remembered and loved by his friends at UKA for the warmth, kindness and respect in his dealings with everyone across the sport. The following quote upon receiving his lifetime achievement award encapsulates his selfless nature, choosing to turn the spotlght on others at every opportunity.

He said: “I am very proud, it is a really wonderful award to get. The people who have helped me are too numerous to mention but I have got lots of coaches and colleagues who still give me advice and share their knowledge and experiences with me. So, I suppose I am a product of all of them really and I want to say thank you for all the energy and time they have put into me.”

Our thoughts are with Christine and his family at this sad time.