Experienced Hilliard appointed Australia coach
ByReuters
Published 20/04/2015 at 03:28 GMT
Athletics Australia appointed experienced mentor Craig Hilliard as national head coach on Monday, seven months after Eric Hollingsworth resigned in the wake of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games debacle.
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Hilliard, who has been involved in coaching at the elite level of the sport for more than three decades, will be seen as a safe pair of hands after the rancour of Hollingsworth's period in charge.
He emerged successful from a recruitment process which also courted controversy when the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said it would not accredit one of the short-listed candidates, Kevin Tyler.
Englishman Hollingsworth bowed to the inevitable and quit last September after being sent back to Australia from Glasgow for sending out a media release critical of sprint hurdler Sally Pearson.
Pearson's 100 metres hurdles victory gave Australia its only gold medal in track and field at the 2012 London Olympics and the fallout from the row prompted two major reviews of the organisation and structure of Athletics Australia (AA).
Hilliard will lead the Australia team into the world championships in Beijing in August, the last major international event in the sport before next year's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Three times Australia's track and field Coach of the Year, Hilliard counts world champions Nathan Deakes and Jana Pittman among the athletes he has helped to success.
"We have reached the decision to appoint Craigafter completing extensive due diligence in respect to a number of highly credentialed applicants," said AA President David Grace.
"I am confident that Craig will deliver on the high expectations that we, as a sport, demand and we eagerly anticipate his involvement in the preparation of Australian teams set to compete across the world in the coming months."
Former Canadian sprinter and bobsledder Tyler previously trained alongside banned drug cheat Ben Johnson and was accused by his own coach Charlie Francis of taking performance-enhancing drugs.
Tyler has never failed a drugs test and denied all doping allegations but the AOC made it clear he was not a suitable candidate to replace Hollingsworth.
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