Welsh former Olympic sprinter Christian Malcolm named as new head coach of British Athletics
Welsh former Olympic sprinter Christian Malcolm has been named as the new head coach for British Athletics.
The Newport-born athlete was appointed after a short stint as head of performance at Athletics Australia and will take up his new role later this year.
He becomes the first black coach to take the role.
He retired in 2014 after representing Great Britain & Northern Ireland to the highest level, competing in four Olympic Games.
The 41-year-old also won gold and silver at the European Athletics Indoor Championships, World Indoor and European Championship silver, Commonwealth silver and bronze, as well as two World bronze medals as part of the GB & NI 4x100m relay team.
Malcolm said: "Words can’t describe how excited I am to have the opportunity to take this role on and be part of a new start for British Athletics.
"As an athlete I knew I wanted to give back to the sport when I finished competing.
“In all my coaching and advisory roles so far, I have wanted to help athletes avoid the errors I made and support them and their coaches to get the best out of themselves."
Malcolm added that his first coach would have been most pleased to see him join British Athletics.
"I’ve worked with some world class coaches throughout my career whilst competing, as part of the GB relay set up and whilst at Athletics Australia.
"They’ve all helped me to grow in various ways, but I know my first coach Jock Anderson would have been the most pleased to see me take this role and use all that he taught me about helping athletes prepare."
Joanna Coates, CEO at British Athletics, said she was most impressed by Malcolm's energy and vision for the role.
“The panel were incredibly impressed by both his technical knowledge and approach to high performance – putting the athlete first, championing welfare and also a change in culture that will really enhance the World Class programme.
“Alongside Sara Symington, Christian will bring a fresh new approach to the performance team as we head towards Tokyo and future Olympic cycles.”