13 November 2019

UK Athletics can today confirm the interim performance leadership structure that will take the sport through to the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020.

The structure will see an interim Performance Team in place working and overseeing the World Class Programme (WCP) with six key positions coordinating delivery:

The overall management of the Performance Programme will be led by Steve Paulding as World Class Programme Director through until after the Tokyo Games in 2020. Paulding, who joined British Athletics in November 2016 has more than 20 years of experience as a professional senior manager in sport. Steve has significant multi-sport games and international experience as a competitor, coach and team manager and was head coach to the Great Britain Olympics track cycling team at the Sydney 2000 Olympic games where they won 4 medals. He was also the performance director at Scottish Golf and he was also HiPAC Director at Brunel University from 2008-2009. This role will oversee liaison with UK Sport.

Another key role in this structure will be delivered by Tommy Yule who will now be expanding his responsibilities and taking on an interim remit of Director of Performance Support. His focus will be to support Steve Paulding with the management of the World Class Programme (WCP) and its strategy and to work with the coaching team to lead and establishing clarity and alignment across sport science, medicine and operations. This position will also oversee liaison with key organisations including the BOA and the English Institute of Sport (EIS).

Yule joined British Athletics as Head of Performance Support in 2017 after previously working for British Weight Lifting as Performance Director where he led the WCP through a period of change, implementing a new performance strategy and overseeing the relocation of the sport’s high performance centre. He was also Team leader at three World Championships and the 2016 Olympic Games. Prior to this he represented Great Britain in weightlifting including at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and had over ten years’ experience delivering and leading strength and conditioning support in high performance sport working for the EIS before joining British Athletics in 2009 as Head of Olympic and Paralympic Conditioning.

Paula Dunn, the current Head Coach of the Paralympic WCP will continue in her role and with the World Para Athletics Championships Dubai 2019 concluding this weekend. Her continuity in delivering this role, liaising with the BPA and preparing para athletes for Tokyo is vital for the team and their performance in 2020.

The three lead coaches will continue their crucial roles maintaining their focus on their existing remits:

Stephen Maguire. Maguire, who was recognised for his achievements as Coach of the Year in the 2017 BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards is the current Director of Performance and Coaching at Scottish Athletics, and will continue his British Athletics duties of leading the sprints, hurdles and relays to focus on the increasing medal potential in this area.

Barry Fudge. Fudge will continue his work overseeing the endurance programme to ensure athletes and coaches are able to perform at their best in the unique and challenging conditions at Tokyo from 800m through to marathon and walks events, with the purpose of ensuring athletes on the cusp of medal winning performances can hone their preparations and make that final ‘step up’.

Peter Stanley. Stanley, who was last year awarded the UK Coaching Lifetime achievement award, will continue his role as Head of Field and Combined Events, with the aim of supporting coaches and athletes towards Tokyo. As announced by British Athletics earlier this year, Stanley will retire following Tokyo, with the remainder of his time in position working alongside fellow coaches Fuzz Caan, Aston Moore and Scott Simpson during a transition period to ensure continuity and consistency for athletes and coaches attending 2020 Games.

Speaking on the new structure, Chair Chris Clark said:

“It is very important to us to ensure continuity in our performance area. We have a very talented group of athletes coming through for Tokyo 2020. Our recent performances in Doha show huge potential across many disciplines and events. Our key medal hopes are well known to us and the rising stars are making huge gains in their personal performances.

“Our WCP team will be very well served by Paula, Steve, Tommy, Stephen, Barry and Peter. They have fantastic experience to draw from and are a truly world class group.

“With Zara Hyde Peters also arriving we have a CEO with a strong performance background and knowledge of the workings of WCP programmes, I know she will be devoting a significant amount of time to the team to help with preparation and the overall management of the area.”