British Athletics defend sacking coach... after best summer for years

UK Athletics bosses have defended sacking Christian Malcolm after a summer of unprecedented success, with Dina Asher-Smith describing the “happiness” the head coach has brought to the British team during his brief tenure.

Britain exceeded expectations over the busiest ever summer of athletics, with seven medals at the World Championships and their second-highest haul of 20 medals at the European Championships, while the home nations also dominated the Commonwealth Games.

However, Malcolm is now out of a job after UK Athletics announced earlier this summer that his role as Olympic head coach would be made redundant. That decision was widely seen as a tacit move to erase decisions made under the governing body’s previous regimes, with Stephen Maguire returning to the organisation next month in the newly created role of technical director.

Maguire had been widely considered favourite to be appointed head coach when the role became available in late 2020 but was so angry at being overlooked in favour of Malcolm, his former junior at the governing body, that he quit the federation. Despite being widely liked within the sport, many believed Malcolm’s promotion was premature.

When it was put to him that it might appear strange to lose a head coach immediately after such a successful summer, UK Athletics chair Ian Beattie said: “I would rather that we’re in this position having had a really successful summer than I would that we hadn’t. It’s credit to Christian and the rest of the team.

“We knew a few months ago that it was a restructuring. We always had confidence in Christian and his professionalism. We were happy to have him here with the team.

“I’d like to pay credit to Christian, the team management and the rest of the team